Is 70 years old to old to start investing?

[Sharon Whipkey]

Most discussions I found about when and how to become real estate investors come from the 18 to 25 age group. Then there are a few with the "Am I too old to start investing at somewhere between 35 to 55 age group. The the replies for the youngsters is educate yourself, find a mentor, improve your credit, etc. All sound advise. (Wish BiggerPockets was around when I sold my first property in 1985,at the age of 35, because I didn't know how to leverage the equity, rent it and buy another property to live in. When I sold it, there was 70K in equity, payments were $143 PITI (included life insurance) & only 13 years left on the mortgage...sigh). I digress. Advise for "older" investors runs from go for it, you have a lot of years left, why bother you only have a few years left, just be safe you don't want to loose the money you have, depends on your risk tolerance, what's your plan old man (I didn't find any women asking the question), to you are retired where would you get the money, etc. The 35 to 55 age group after all only have anywhere from 30 to 50 years left to live (if 85 years old is used for passing on).

So here I am, 70 years old and moving from being an accidental investor to a purposeful investor. Now why would I want to do that? It's a question a lot of people ask or don't ask in a different ways, straight out question, looks of "sure", out right ignoring us at REI meetings, what's your goal & purpose (good questions no matter what age) and a presenter actually saying to the group,"Why would you want to still be investing when you are 70?".

Here's why a 70 year old might consider becoming a purposeful investor, even with just 15 years left to make a fortune. LOL  

1. Avoiding capital gains on high equity, low cash flow properties (think 1031 exchange)
2. End of depreciation write-off on current investment property
3. Social Security & pensions, while nice, are not generally sufficient to live on. When one in a couple dies the other is left with whichever is the greater of the two incomes.  In some cases cutting the remaining spouse with half the income.  Cat food here I come...oh wait some pet food is now more than human food.
4. Wanting to do more than scrimp by month to month. Passive income creates possibilities to enjoy life, not just buy food, pay property taxes, ulities, gasoline, health insurance, the survival basics. Passive income is nice no matter of age, yet especially nice in old age.
5. Staying engaged in life. Some "oldsters" aren't interested in playing golf or whatever society expects retired women to do 7 days a week.  Or most dreadfully sit around and wait for children and grandchildren to visit. Worst yet watch TV all day just waiting to die.  (Morbid, huh)
6. All of the above is true for us. Add to that leaving a prosperous business for our children and grandchildren to inherit, depending on future inheritance tax regulations, tax free.
7. So to all you who wonder when it is to late to invest, my answer is any age if you are happy with what your financial situation is today and what your retirement years look like as you gaze into the future. My retire income just became greater with the passive income I receive from my 9 new rental properties.
8. If you made it this far post, thanks for reading. Hopefully you will also reach 70 and want to be engaged. Good luck & great properity to you and yours.