Dating at 70?

I think she would be quite foolish to try online dating before she has properly decided to leave her marriage. IMO she should either leave, get a divorce and learn to live alone for a while then try a dating agency.. or she should stay with her husband and join lots of groups and if she happens to meet someone through common interests then she may wish to leave the marriage. Whichever way she chooses she must talk to her husband and explain how she feels. He has to be considered..

I laughed at an expression last week (at the chiropodist) when a lady said she had no intention of dating now, as she didn’t want to be a nurse or a purse at her age!

LindyLou2020, if your friend is very unhappy then it does indeed make sense to divorce and make the best of life. However, if that hinges on finding a 'better catch' then I'd recommend her to think things through a bit more.

My friends mother widow, met a man on a cruise whilst celebrating her 70th birthday, they married when she was 72 and have been married for 15 years now.

I spent 5 years on my own with my youngest son when I was 50 and it was the best time of my life. My husband now was through a dating agency and he is lovely but I wish I had stayed single a lot longer. Tell her not to rush into anything. Also I do hope she is able to maintain her lifestyle with her finances. Isn’t it a pity though that she has waited until now when she could have got away years ago and had the life that made her happy. Why settle for less when we only live once.

I think your friend would be very foolish.
A friend did something similar when she was sixty, ditched her husband because she decided they had nothing in common any more, having married at twenty-one as she didn't want to be left on the shelf. He was devastated.
She confidently expected to find a new partner and trawled the dating sites vigorously and underwent some unpleasant experiences before she accepted that it wasn't like dumping a boyfriend on a Friday night and having a new one by Monday, when you were eighteen. That was fifteen years ago.

Before your friend starts to file for divorce, has she considered the financial impact as well as all the emotional ones?

I know (through my mother-in-law) a couple who met that way in their 70s.

They are both "young" and vibrant still though now in their 80s I would think - given the time they have been together (guessing 7 or 8 years)...
She gave up on the cheap/free sites which she said only yielded material for a novel (!) and paid (according to her) quite a hefty membership fee so she could rule out insolvent alcoholics and men who wanted "extra" with no commitment. Her husband was her first "match".

They are a terrific couple. It worked for them.

I know two couples in their 60s who met and married during the past couple of years through online dating. All are very happy but, as one of the women said, you have to kiss an awful lot of frogs before you find your prince!

A year or so after my husband died, I looked at a couple of dating sites. I was 70 at the time and my abiding impression was that most of the 70-something men were looking for women in their 50s and 60s while the 70+ women were sought after by men in their 80s. Presumably, these men are trying to future-proof by finding a younger woman to care for them in their old age!

I decided that online dating was too much like a meat market and not for me. I did, subsequently, meet the second love of my life but we were introduced by a mutual friend and the acquaintance evolved naturally. I would suggest the OP's friend should follow up on the idea of getting out and about and meeting people through interests and activities. You never know what's around the next corner!

Wise, wise words. Try being single first. That would be my advice for the simple reason it’s been so long for me that I wouldn’t have a clue and want to find my feet again. Age to me would not be a thing that’s just numbers particularly if healthy.

I did a spell of on-line dating when it was quite new and I was in my 40s/50s
Without boring you I am now on my own and happy to be so. On-line dating can be a minefield unless you are very sharp and can spot the red flags. There are people out there who will prey on vulnerable women at any age.
I'm not saying don't do it, but you have to do it with eyes open to the possibility you could have some short-term fun but long-term love? It remains rare, though there may be posts following this to contradict me!