Financial success has nothing to do with whether or not an older man can date a woman much younger than himself. In principle, age is not an impediment to marriage unless one of the potential partners is either a canonical or legal minor. Canonically, a man cannot enter marriage until he is 17 and a woman cannot until she is 15 (*Code of Canon *Law, canon 1083 §1). However, that is canon law for the universal Church and is intended for areas of the world in which people marry at much younger ages (such as in Asia and Africa) than is customary in other parts of the world. The bishops’ conference of a particular country may impose a higher mandatory age (canon 1083 §2), or the civil government may require either a higher age or parental permission for a minor to marry.
Prudentially speaking, in Western society, for a man of thirty to seek to date a teenager is, quite frankly, alarming, especially when he apparently thinks that financial success should be a factor for consideration. Such a man would be well-advised to steer far clear of teenagers, particularly since he is tempted to feel romantic attraction toward them. A seventeen-year-old girl who is being pursued romantically by a thirty-year-old man should inform her parents or legal guardians so that they may take the legal action necessary to prevent his future contact with her.
