Looking to expand, but uncertain about how to structure my future "empire."

[Lucas Wacker]

First thanks for reading!

I am about 3.5 years away from my military retirement date and want to transition full time into real estate. My wife and I currently own 5 multifamily properties in Anchorage, AK where am stationed. We initially thought about just using the next 3.5 years to pay down as much debt as possible and then just live off my military retirement and the income from the 16 doors we own, but honestly, I want more! I want to set my two preteen children up so they will be able to choose to go off on their own and join in the real estate game.

I have owned/flipped/rented about 17 properties in total and most of them I remodeled or updated on my own. I've been doing this over the last 10 years and have a pretty good understanding of when a deal is worth it or not and what I'll need to put into it to get it rent ready. What I don't have a good handle on is how to structure my future and current properties. I have read everything from a trust that owns a holding company that owns an LLC for each property to just owning everything as a sole proprietor. I want to protect my assets and my nest egg but could use some advice on how to properly set this up.

Any thoughts?