The latter is more important as it represents actual return on investment net of appreciation and debt retirement.

However, this will knock $100k off from his $300k note, which he wanted to ride out for the next 5-15 years for retirement cash.  

I'm in my early 40 and am looking to retire is hopefully 8-10 years.

I dont think this could apply to retirement SS.There are a lot of people scamming the system to get disability SS.

Disadvantage is you get none of the tax advantages of direct ownership, so these are best purchased in a retirement account.5) Continue saving and investing smartly until you reach either $1M in net worth or you earn $200,000/year in income!

Within the next year or so, I will be taking over the family business, as my father will be retiring.

With the increased Standard Deduction for 2018 I'm not sure if I should work towards retiring my home's mortgage, or one of my rental properties.

My retirement funds increased about $500K from 2001 to now, and would have regardless of who was in office.

But that's what you can do after retirement after more than 30 years of this stuff.

Initially, the boomers were the stimulus of economic expansion:•1950s -- parents buy new houses and cars, suburbs emerge, and America is King of Production•1960s -- more housing, more cars, college educations, Made in Japan = cheap, Vietnam, shaken values, Johnson's "War on Poverty"•1970's -- the Boomers emerge with jobs, are new consumers -- more housing, international manufacturing becomes more competitive, US corporations locate operations overseas•1980s -- Reagan tax cuts = increased discretionary spending, revenues up, social programs funded, Iron Curtain falls, technology enables global expansion•1990s -- peak Boomer earnings, corporate America dissolves pensions (funding liabilities, regulatory liabilities, increasing PBGIC premiums) and convince Boomers to "control" their retirement with self-directed 401(k)'s, Moore's Law at work in technology, the Internet becomes hostile to profits, emergence of private equity and venture capital on a large scale, increased financial engineering•2000s -- oops, where did the American Dream go?