At 68, Is It Wiser to Invest $750K in Real Estate or the Stock Market?

I’m 68 and selling vacant real estate that is worth about $750,000. Is it better to reinvest the money by doing a 1031 exchange for income producing real estate or invest in the stock market? I’m already taking Social Security and only have about $100,000 in other liquid assets. I don’t have much other income, maybe $5,000 a month.

– John 

Broadly speaking, I think the choice between investing a given sum of money in rental property or stocks and other securities is often driven by personal preference. In your case, however, I would consider leaning toward investing in the stock market (specifically, a more diverse mix of liquid assets) with at least a good portion of your proceeds. Here’s how and why I arrived at that opinion. (But if you’d like to have a more in-depth conversion about your investment strategy, consider connecting with a financial advisor.)

To start, it’s important to think about the nature of investing in either of the two choices you mentioned.

Real estate can be fairly “hands on” and is not as passive as many people often assume. Of course, that varies depending on whether or not you hire a property manager. Doing so increases your cost and reduces your net income. The price of a property manager varies across location and property types, but it’s usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% of collected rent. Even if you hire a property manager, there will still be decisions that you have to be involved with from time to time.

Depending on your approach, investing in stocks and other financial securities could be quite passive. There are more involved stock-picking strategies, but many people are successful and happy with far less involvement.

This may or may not be a concern to you, and you may already know what’s required of you when owning rental properties. But if you’re new to investing in rental properties I would highly recommend that you speak with rental property investors to get a better sense of whether it’s a right approach for you. It’s not uncommon for people to develop a disdain for owning rental properties – not for financial reasons, but for the added responsibility and disruptions they may cause. (A financial advisor can help you evaluate different investments and strategies, and even manage your portfolio for you.)

SmartAsset and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.

Let’s review some of the differences between rental property investments and financial securities, like stocks and bonds. Apart from deciding if you even like the idea of owning real estate, comparing the two based on the following criteria might help you decide which option suits you better.