I’ll also get back to you guys, but in February. I know this year is going to be another year of big changes, as I’m anticipating finishing graduate school, hopefully getting a job as a librarian, and marrying my SO. 
I’d like to expand on my earlier reply. Regarding my social life at that time: it wasn’t what I wanted at all. I had no boyfriend and no good prospects and all my previous boyfriends had been one kind of jerk or another. Since I had always assumed that by 25 I’d have a career and a husband and probably kids too, I was pretty upset by being nowhere near it at 26.
I had to think about it to remember that, since I’ve been married in the mean time and now I’m very happy to be single and live alone. When I saw the question about social life, all I could think of was friendships, and I was fine in that respect.
I think if I had realized at 26 that marriage wasn’t a fairy tale happy ending, I would have been a lot more content.
Job: Various minimum wage temp-work
Significant Relationship: None, a few bad blind dates.
Income: 15k or so.
Social Life: A lot of friends to hang with…this was my heavy concert/bars/clubs/drinking phase. Looking back, being generally very poor, I don’t know how I managed to afford all of those nights out!
Health: Excellent, was on 3 soccer teams simultaneously.
I was 26 in 1983 (if my math is correct)
Job: Drove offshore oil-biz vessel (semisubmersible)
Significant relationship: Married (still married to same gal)
Income: 1200-1500 USD weekly (pretty good money for 1983)
Social Life: Nil. Sometimes worked 5-6 months offshore at a time.
Health: Excellent
From the time I turned 26 to the time I turned 27 happened to be the worst time of my life, but looking back at least it was formative.
Job: Database keeper for an Oxford college, until I was forced to leave the UK. Later I designed a database for an engineering firm in the US. During all of this I was working full-time on my doctoral dissertation.
Significant relationship: Separated from my first wife with zero chance of reconciliation. Divorce would be finalized six months after I turned 27, so the entire year I was in UK divorce limbo.
Salary: Oxford would pay you negative money if they could, but I was probably making around £12,500/yr, or about $20,000 at that year’s exchange rates. I was getting very cheap accomodation and food. Can’t remember what I got at the engineering place.
Social life: This board was about it. All of our mutual friends stayed with my first wife, which I don’t blame them at all for as it was all but assured that I was going to be leaving the UK. Coming back to the US wasn’t great either, as I was spending all my time either working, looking for a job, or writing my dissertation.
Health: Needless to say, losing my marriage, job, place to live, country I’d lived in for six years, all my friends, and most of what I’d worked for for over a decade had a profound effect on my mental health. Physically, I gained 50 pounds in six months when I moved back to the US.
Fortunately, the last seven years have been a lot better, despite setbacks, but that year does haunt me.
I turned 26 in October of 2001.
Job: Fourth-year medical student until I graduated in May, then an intern starting in July.
Relationship: I got engaged to my girlfriend of seven years. We were practically living together while I was in medical school, and we moved together to do my residency. We got married at the end of 2002.
Salary: In school I was on a $12K stipend, though I took an additional $10K loan that year for residency travel, moving expenses, and a trip to Italy. In residency I was making around $40k/year. I bought a house, which would later turn out to be a horrible financial decision, and a new car that’s still going strong.
Social life: Peaked early and then went to shit. The fourth year of medical school is by far the lightest; aside from a couple of months of acting internships and a bunch of residency interviews most people don’t have that much to do. I was the Social Chair of my class and had a huge group of friends, so I was always into something. Then we moved two states away for residency and had a really hard time establishing a social circle there, for various reasons.
Health: Kind of like now, overweight but generally in good health. I was walking a lot more back then (I lived a mile from school and walked there every day) so I’ve gained a little weight since then, but not that much. I sleep a whole lot better now than I did back then.
Overall, 26 was a time of big change for me and was mostly pretty good, though things would fall apart shortly thereafter for about a year and a half or so. I’m happy to say they’ve been heading uphill ever since.
Jeez, that was like 1990-ish? I was…
Job: working 9-5 in a print shop, using my Fine Arts degree to cover a hole in the wall, and showing my paintings anywhere I could
Relationship: single, but involved with the shrill harpy who would one day become my ex-wife
Salary: very damn little; maybe $10—$12,000
Social life: had a number of friends until my future ex-wife scared 'em all off. Was an apprentice at a tattoo studio for a while, but mainly used that as a way to meet people, get tattoos on the cheap, and score. Often went to clubs to hear live music.
Health: healthy as a horse. Minor league gym rat, in terrific shape and lungs not too badly damaged from cigarette smoking (yet). Gorgeous and had a full head of long, lusterous hair. Sadly, almost none of that is true anymore.
Now 43-ish, on marriage number two (this one seems to be working a lot better than marriage number 1), have a beautiful 5-year-old son, very little hair, still in decent shape, but more like an old silverback gorilla than the bronze Adonis I was at 26. Still a career Art Whore, but my work has slowly developed a following and at least 50-odd people have heard of me.
I was 26 in 1993.
Job: college student, ROTC in TX.
Relationship: Seriously involved w/ a friend’s cousin. She was dead set on getting married, but didn’t understand that to me it was just good sex.
Income: about $15K, with scholarship, grants, GI Bill and a part time job to pay the rest of the bills.
Social life: Generally good. Finishing last year of college and done w/ all the serious science classes, just filling out electives. Discovered that I should have majored in Philosophy rather than Pre-Med, but it was too late at that point. Good friends from town and some from college.
Health: Excellent. But I was working out 6-7 times a week.
Other: Had a 1972 Datsun POS that literally was held together with duct tape and string. Got me to and from work though. The relationship pressure was being felt by the g/f as I was near graduating, and I decided to end the relationship, albeit badly (I was a real jerk about it). Had some trouble w/ the army due to contract obligations and Gulf War I, so I made some waves I shouldn’t have. And paid for it.
Fast forward one year to 1994:
Job: Newly commissioned 2LT in the Field Artillery. Back to the desert.
Relationship: None. Was ostracized by family/friends for dumping the “good” g/f who wanted to marry me. Good time for me to get deployed and get the hell out of Dodge.
Income: About $35K, IIRC. Saved a lot of money by spending army time in the field.
Social life: Very soon after my return, I discovered chat rooms and found many friends and dates. Things happening almost every night. Fun times.
Health: Excellent. Except for some weird skin condition I developed while in the sand. Still unresolved.
Other: Graduated college (first ever in my family), bought a new car, had rented an excellent house on the cheap (good place to come home to after army stuff). Made important army contacts and earned a series of accolades through hard work and opportunity. The start of a great career. Army life was good. Learned many important lessons about leadership and professional / personal relationships, and I think this was a period that was very beneficial to becoming the person I am.
Job: Peace Corps volunteer teacher in Cameroon
Significant Relationship: Kind of a complicated thing back home
Income: About $150 a month
Social Life: Weird- spent a lot of time with close expat friends on the weekends, and spent my weeks with Cameroonian teachers, students and social activists.
Health: Sick pretty often with gnarly tropical diseases
I was 26 in the very late 1980s.
Job: Judicial Clerk, Civil Section, Court of Queen’s Bench
Significant Relationship: Co-owned house with lying, cheating shit stain of a man–not that I knew it at the time.
Income: $30,000
Social Life: Pffft. I worked days, he worked aft/eves.
Health: Drinking too much. Crushing headaches at least once a week. Dad ailing and mere months from death.
93
Job: Full time mum.
Significant relationship: Husband killled himself this year, so widow
Income: Whatever the govt payed then (Not very bloody much).
Social Life: Hanging around at friend’s houses.
I turned 26 in 1977. I graduated high school in '69, did four years in the U.S. Air Force, then upon discharge, did the “Easy Rider” thing for about a year In '75 I began pursuing an associates degree in Drafting & Design, graduating in '77.
At that time
Job: Draftsman with a communications firm that sold equipment that activated your pager
Significant Relationship: Married (for the second time…and still am, after 33 years)
Income: About 25K…not godawful for the time frame.
Social Life: Friday night bowling league. Lots of beer, hgh-fives, and loud behavior
Health: Great
I spent time working in a hospital and met tons of older adults (age 80 plus). When I asked them what their favourite decade of life was, hands down most noted their 50s and 60s were the best. Kids raised, house paid off, retirement just around the corner, most were in good health, and they had no worries about the future.
I am 44 and I can honestly say that this seems to be the best time in my life so far. I love everything about it.
Funny how no one seems to want to go back and experience the teen years and puberty again.