LIFESTYLE: How Does Age Affect Your Choice Of Partner?

Is LOVE the only factor when it comes to partner choices for you? This question has been lingering in my mind for sometime now.  Everyone seems to have an idea of what they want in a person when it comes to relationships, but the reality is that people often settle for far less than what they had in mind.
Choosing a life time partner entails a lot, status, tribe and most importantly age. Others will also say the most determining factor is love and happiness-I side with them to an extent.
Does age really matter to you in a relationship? I will like to pour out my take on this issue before I proceed to ask you what you think about this.
For me age has a very important role to play when it comes to choosing who I want to grow old with, I like my man to be a bit older than me, 3-5yrs older. My reason being that I think exceptionally old men will abuse their younger partners because they feel they should have the final say.
On the other hand men who are too young have come up as not being matured enough to settle down. For instance a 24 year old woman in her final year dating a colleague around her age is likely to want to settle down after school. The guy will be also looking to start a life at that stage.  In this case, the guy may not even have a job, not to even think of settling down with you
I agree perfectly that love should matter in every relationship but age should be given prominent consideration.
Are you one of those who have age principles? Does age have the final say in your choice of partners? I have a friend who will never date men older than her, even if they are a day older than her by a minute. She likes her partners young!
Where do you stand when it comes to age and choice of partner?