What is the happiest academic career stage?

Fascinating: happiness seems to be finding your own balance, the stuff you enjoy, then going full bore at it. Unlike all your contributors, I'm not a life-long academic, I have come to it late in life after a career in commercial coding, web development, and teaching in Further Education. I enjoyed all of those at the time, but since slithering into academia I have found true happiness. I've always loved teaching and at this level it is a real joy, watching eager minds grow and develop, learning how to learn for themselves, to be open and enquiring. With research interests in online learning the pandemic brought so much work that it's taken until now for me to catch up with my leave allowance! That's bothered HR more than me, I'm having so much fun that the monthly influx of pay into my bank balance is a pleasant surprise.

An interesting series of experiences. But I feel there is a key problem - namely that current global problems, like Covid, war, mass population movements and climate change, require collegial team working (across disciplines), whereas academe still largely operates on an outdated, divisive, narrow and individualistic model of personal 'success'. That 'success' still significantly requires antque aspects of achievement - production of articles in what are considered 'high impact' outlets; and generation of consultancy income. Viva the boundary breakers, the independent thinkers, the kind and the cooperative; they may not inherit preferment, but they will hopefully enjoy a deep-seated sense of fulfilment through following their star, and helping others - within and without the academy.