Love your wife, but help her understand and see the financial benefits of sacrificing now for the comforts and freedoms that early sacrifices will make in the long term. 

Thank you for the financial breakdown!

With that in mind, I’m considering purchasing four rental units over the next four years to build a stream of income that could help supplement my retirement by age 68.The challenge I’m facing is that the deals I’ve come across so far don’t make financial sense.

The seller did some other work for me after selling me the property, which turned out to be a total disaster.

You will also need about 6 months of reserves deposited in a traditional financial institution rather than a crypto account.The next step is to find the target property and calculate the acquisition costs and costs of construction along with the after-repair value. 

A financial calculator and legal pad might work in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, but that doesn't mean it's the best way to do it.

If two funds need money for litigation support, that seems telling on the current financial condition.

@Kaleb JohnsonRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

I like Texas for the economic outlook and less natural disasters but I may be biased!

I know that the general guidance is that emergency funds aren't to be invested, but given our financial security and the fact that we already have a personal e-fund in a safe, non-volatile location, would it still be crazy/unwise to invest this 15k in an S&P500 index fund in a brokerage?