A married couple in their 70s that have previously owned homes for 40+ years and are now retired with no debt, no kids, and 50 years experiene as adults should not be looked at the same as a boyfriend/girlfriend in their early 20s that have never owned a home or rented together before, still paying student loans, living paycheck to paycheck, and financing that 2018 Dodge Charger in the driveway.

I also struggled with consistency money making endeavors I picked up.Now that I have a family, even though I make significantly more, I spend a lot more on my family and the reality is that saving more in the stock market doesn't make a lot of difference in when I will have enough to retire (which is currently early 50s). 

As I’m sure you know high yield notes work best when owned by a Roth retirement account. 

Do people from around the country retire to southern CA?

I will be retiring from the Army next year and will be able to occupy in March 2023.

I'd look at land value and land development to capture substantial upside, I'd look at 50+ unit deals for entitlement, I'd self perform land acquisition and land development in a midwest market like columbus that allows for substantial gain and represents a more stable long term growth, but when you break down the industry new construction is very stable you are already doing that by just working in new construction. you'd essentially be the developer on a larger deal you could do that in one deal. lol 

Commercial is your best bet (rates are actually closer to 7-8%) or you can have a loan against your other assets such as brokerage, retire accounts, or a group LOC for your other properties.

What about open stables?

This is a wealthy retirement community where 80% of owners hardly blink at the special assesment.

The more rentals you buy are you really retiring early?