Max out Roth or save for real estate?

[Tyler Hogan]

Hi guys, I wanted to get some outside opinions on something I’ve been thinking a lot about over the past year or so. 

I have a goal of reaching financial independence by 30. I am 25 years old, married, have a mortgage on my home and a heloc that I used to invest in an apartment syndication. Currently in the 24% tax bracket.

My father has always told me “max out your roth no matter what!”. I’ve been doing this and I realize the long term potential, however I feel like contributing $12,000/year slowing me down in the short term. I'm currently maxing out my roth and focusing on paying down the heloc with any other money I can come up with. If I stopped maxing out my roth I would pay the heloc off in less than a year and continue saving until I found a good rental property to purchase using my heloc and any additional cash I've saved. My thoughts are that if I repeat this process over the next few years it could expedite my journey to FI.

In short, should I continue maxing out my Roth or should I pause for a few years to pursue more real estate investments?

Thanks in advance.

[Cassi Justiz]

If you haven't read @Scott Trench's book Set for Life it may be a good place to start. He has some solid advice. I am not personally putting money into any retirement accounts right now. All extra money is getting pumped into real estate. Once we have built up enough passive income from real estate to feel comfortable without W2 income, then we will re-evaluate the strategy.