Building a plan for retirement income

[Ron Riffe]

Old guy, new to real estate investing. I'll likely retire from my W2 career in the next 5-6 years. I'm fortunate to have learned the value of saving / investing early so am in a good financial position. I'm looking at real estate as a means of supplementing income after retirement. Looking for guidance from folks with more experience than me :-)

I'm thinking...

I want to avoid the risk associated with debt.

I don't need any income from the real estate now... so am less interested in cash-on-cash return than I am in cash flow appreciation over the next 5-6 years. Cash flow would all go back into acquiring additional properties... until I retire.

I have little time to devote to personally managing properties (at least for the next 5-6 years), so would lean toward turn key.

Is that a reasonable way to think? What else should I be considering? If that was your situation, what would you do?

[Joshua Janus]

@Ron Riffe I really like your thinking and your looking to set yourself up well for retirement! First off I would find an investment friendly realtor in your market, or whichever market you choose, and do a deep dive so you can get a great idea of where the growth is occurring and focus your attention and cash on those areas. If you are cash heavy now, one option is to put a large down payment on a 10-20 unit property with the intention of having it fully paid off in the next 5-6 years. You can then turn around and seller finance the deal to a young investor, and have passive income from the property throughout your retirement. This will also allow you to spread your tax bill out and avoid the punishment of a large capital gains tax. You can stick to turnkey properties or one's close to that to achieve your goals. Team up with a great property manager, set of contractors and others to build a foundation around your asset that will allow it to thrive and pay you.