He retired at 26 (one year out of college) and after a spending sometime traveling he decided that a life without fulfilling work was a life without purpose.

If your goal is more FIRE oriented where you 'retire early' - cash flow pretty much has to be a part of that plan the way I see it.For me, cash flow is what justifies the 'daily grind' of being a landlord.  

Most agents can never retire. 

I withdrew from my 401k for that as I am retired.

If you need a brokerage account at Fidelity, you open Fidelity's Investment-Only Non-Prototype Retirement account for the 401k; there is no need for the LLC.

A simpler and more effective strategy is to understand the tax implications and plan accordingly, possibly by working with a CPA who can review the specific syndication's operating agreement.While UDFI is a factor to consider, it shouldn't be a deterrent to investing your retirement funds in real estate syndications.

After that it's a race to retirement I guess.

Make sure you work with a company that will support you on what you can and cannot do with your retirement funds.  

Wife and I are about 7-8 years away from retirement (from Atlanta). 

( both new builds and or rehab properties) I was not able to find any, rent to retirements has some in Ocklahawa which is kind of close to Ocala…but from what I read on the forum Ocklahawa is a lot more rural than Ocala, and not appreciated as much, is this true ?