@Helen Zhang I'm a newbie to real estate, but I've done my homework on retirement accounts.

Now that same family member owns half a dozen houses of his own and is enjoying a much better retirement because of it.Point is, maybe you just need to "show" them how you can make money as opposed to "telling" them.Or, maybe help educate them on what exactly you want to do. 

Also taking into account locations where future and realistic market tailwinds (e.i retiring baby boomers and foreign investors) lead.

Talking to a retired family member who used to do sales and see if he would be interested in taking the calls for a commission? 

If you buy comparable properties with comparable terms your overall returns should be similar to owning the 2 places jointly.But you each get the benefits of owning investment real estate outside of your retirement accounts and none of the hassles of having it in there.

We were talking with my in-laws (Brother and Sister) who live there about purchasing a duplex to live in at retirement to allow us to take equity from our primary homes to help fund retirement and travel like crazy.

My goal is to build a large portfolio of single family cash flowing houses for my retirement.

Looking for passive income so that I may retire :)Thanks Lorie

See following IRS link for information on this: http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/How-Much-Salary-Can-You-Defer-if-You%E2%80%99re-Eligible-for-More-than-One-Retirement-Plan%3F  4.

I don't know if you have access to any retirement accts or family/friends that may want a piece of the action as well.