What to do with the proceeds of the sale of my home?

[Luisa Morejon]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I will be downsizing from our primary home into a townhome that we own as an investment property currently. Since we will be selling our primary property which we have lived in for 15 years we will not be paying capital gains taxes on it. We are so lost as to what to do with the money. One important thing is that we want to retire in the next 5 years. We own 3 other rental properties that have a 6.5%-7.5% APR, and no credit card debt or any other high interest debt to pay off. Our options are to put the money the stock market, buy a multi-unit property, by an established business, payoff the 3 rentals for cash flow, or get into hard money lending. So many options that we are at a loss. I would love a calculator that could help me make better decisions but not sure that exists. Help!

[V.G Jason]

Buy in Columbus, obviously.

I kid. 

If you're heading into retirement, you want to likely get your debt out of the picture. I would remove debt to a 7-10 year time frame and lower fixed costs, at minimum. Ideally, wipe them out. 

Otherwise, move debt down to a 7-10 year time frame + lower monthly payments. Invest the difference in some form of equities and tbills. Way more passive, and manageable as you enter retirement.