The concern here would be that I've done a decent job of holding onto liquidity for investments (the road to financial freedom) but the mortgages aren't being paid down fast enough (hence, the deck of cards analogy) or forcing a property sale before it's optimal or to finance the next deal?

optimism is a necessity, but for most folks, the reality of bills, loan payments, groceries, kids, families, make being a full time investor something that usually takes a while to build.

There are people who have financed their entire portfolios over decades with section 8 alone and if they are achieving optimal profits, they would argue its without question worth it 

Risk/Return analysis framework helps you determine the optimal balance of Risk vs Return across various investment opportunities.

It's a huge transition and I've helped a lot of agents with their own businesses over the past 2 years, understanding strategy, optimizing the systems provided and ensuring you understand how to seek out the right kind of support based on your own working style.If you'd like to have a chat I'd love to schedule a time and give you some unbiased info based on my experiences and the feedback from many other agents trying to build out their businesses.

My active work in the real estate is now focused around coaching others, investing in other peoples deals, doing a little private lending, and optimizing my remaining STR

Or they could decide to reduce risk, increase income, and optimize their life. 

Or do we want to build a society where people who will advance society (technology, medicine, science) will thrive optimally?

That said, always on the lookout to optimize rates!

Or, maybe I am just not thinking in the optimal *creative* way that might make this work.