I'm a trucker and retired military.

My main focus is to make sure my Mom has enough cash to live off of while she enjoys her retirement.

Billionaires who promoted it will be hated and blamed for people loosing their retirement savings. 

@Robert Portal thank you for the mention of Rent To Retirement. 

Not only do they lose the retirement balance, but also they incur a 10% premature withdrawal penalty.  

You should consider investing in RE outside your retirement account as well since there are different tax benefits available.  

However, I know that I do not want all my income to be reliant on my day job and live to watch my retirement account grow.I am probably doing better than a lot of people my age but am eager to take the correct steps to build a real estate portfolio.

I'm not a broker now, retired, so this is not a business solicitation.

Since you are retired, you want to preserve that $200k and make it grow I assume?

It earned about $35K a year, which combined with is retirement and social security benefits, provided him with top shelf top shelf living facilities - assisted living and then memory care.