Investing strategies to replace $500k+ W2 income

[Vhernadette Sasing]

Hi everyone,

I am high income earner making more than 500k per year with my W2 job, 40hour week.  I am planning to build a business to replace my income in couple of years so as to have monthly cash flow equal to my W2 income. What's best strategy in 2024 or 2025? Open to out of state investing, non real estate etc? I am somewhat limited with time but have right mindset. Thanks in advance.

[Travis Timmons]

Scale down your expenses as much as possible. Real estate is not for everyone and is a pain in the a## if you don't really like it. The idea that you are going to buy cash flowing properties, hire a property manager, and collect rents is just not reality. If you want cash flow to live off of, pay cash for properties; however, the S+P 500 provides a better historical return than rental properties bought with cash. 

I'm of the opinion that index funds are a better investment unless you are really hands on. The magic of real estate is buying a property and creating $50-100k in equity through $25k of strategic renovation while you are 4x-5x leveraged (for example...I'm obviously just making up numbers).