living off rentals

[Jason Phillips]

not for sure if i posted this in the appropriate forum .

i would like to hear yalls opinion about how i should proceed .

my current status is im 37 have wife and 3 kids own our home .bring in around 35 to 40 k a/yr as a full time maintenance/ janitor. we own 7 rent houses 5 are paid for . we put as much of the rental income towards the loans of the other 2 with the plan of getting another as soon as those are paid for . day job income go to health ins , Walmart , and to keep the lights on in that order , with nothing left to save .

our dream is to have enough rental to live totally off that income and i quit the day job . at current rate ' the way life likes to kick you when your down' its going to be 5 to 10 yrs before i can quit unless i go insane first.

should i continue to take out loans to buy houses or save up and pay cash ?

would there be any financial benefit to quitting the day job now ? we could maintain current life style just would not be able to buy more houses as fast.

if i quit the day job could i get on welfare ?