ROI measured in time?

[Julie A.]

When I was 19, I kept a little black book of random quotes I ran across. Sometimes I even quoted myself. One of them was "wealth should be measured in time, not money." I may have been inspired by Robert Kiyosaki, because I was reading all his books at the time.  The next year, I spent my honeymoon with my newlywed husband at a foreclosure seminar and a few months later, we attended a 5-day real estate bootcamp run by a guru, with all the high-pressure tactics you'd expect. We were even conned into taking the instructors out to dinner on our dime. I was just starting my career and the realities of a daily commute and working full time sunk in, which probably saved me from making a series of colossal mistakes based on bad advice. We never made our first deal, and lost about $7,000 on all the trainings and materials.

Fast forward 20+ years and I'm a single mom with a successful career beyond my wildest dreams. Now I'm thinking -- my 19-year-old self did have some good ideas -- because what I want more than anything is time. Time for being a mom, for being with my parents before they get too old, my siblings and their families, close friends, travel, being outdoors and many varied interests.  If played as a long term strategy, rental property investing seems to be a vehicle for becoming time wealthy.

I'm wondering ... how many of you have not only been able to live off of your rental income, but now have an abundance of time that you spend on the things you value most? Are you happier because of it?