Even with inflation that should be a nice nest egg to live off of if your RE investments don't pan out.  

The bank is giving you $88, 000 today for 360 payments that will be eroded by inflation.  

It's amazing that the Fed has to inject $85 billion (with a 'B') into the economy to keep the paper markets inflated.

I keep a large emergency fund in savings, and the interest it has earned in the last 2 years (0.75%) doesn't even keep up with inflation.

Should I expect the rent I can collect to rise with inflation, or is it likely to steadily decrease?

Lee and Linda,As a Realtor, and as an Investor, I would caution you about planning on appreciation beyond typical inflation.

Inflated ARVs, understated rehab costs and no understanding of whats a good ROI for an investor seems to be rampant.

You assume that you start with 4% of the portfolio, have a diversified stock/bond portfolio and increase your withdrawls based on inflation and the starting 4% number, you don't redo the 4% each year, but you do get inflation bumps.

For a multifamily deal, the two critical variables are typically rent inflation (growth) and exit cap rate (sales price at the end of the hold period).

My costs are basically fixed while rent will be at inflation.