Re-invest 4% to keep up with inflation, and he would still get $80,000/year for the rest of his life without touching the $2 million.

If you are at the stage in your life when you are looking for asset preservation then I would be heavy in precious metals.

Research what other properties they own, always check if property taxes were paid timely on their properties (on the assessor's site), look for signs of financial distress or life circumstances driving the need for a quick sale (divorce, probate, etc.).I bought several properties from a bankruptcy situation.

Joel,You hit the nail right on the head.Alex,Okay, from what he told me, you sold him a house, advertised a "life style rehab" of it, and placed a tenant into it.

He says the guy who poured the cement didn't do a good job or the house settled the early years of life..

I have a decent job that I cannot give up right now but want to provide a better life for my new wife and future children going forward, and I truly believe real estate will help me do that.Along with building my network as a real estate agent, I want to start my first flip project during the first quarter of 2012.

We looked around and found a a place we love that rents for $1,375 which is more than we've ever spent on rent, but our real estate back home is doing exceptionally well so I figure we should spend a little on quality of life.

While this is a post/article more about a disappearing way of life than it is about real estate investing, it does give one information on a potential investment opportunity.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/21/us-farmland-idUSTRE7AK0EA20111121buyafarm.com...really?

If you are living a good life and have all of your bills paid with the 2300 per month, and your life is headache free, you may not wanna rock the boat.

I was pretty shocked when I punched the numbers into a mortgage calculator and realized that we'd just saved more than 80,000 over the life of the loan, and also taken eight years off it.We decided to keep going and continue paying it down.