Also, verify the way the policy is structured to have it maximum overfunded, where the death benefit is minimized with the maximum allowed premium going mainly to the cash value.Regarding rate of return of IUL, while appearing on the surface a little bit lower than the stock market, if you take into account the indexing feature that avoid any loss if the market crashes, you will find that it is very competitive with it.

@Ben HarhagerI'm happy to hear that you are interested in real estate investing.But there is no simple answer to your question. if you don't want to get calls at random times of the day to "fix toilets", then perhaps you might want to consider investing in the stock market.

I have some retirement money to invest and thought instead of the stock market, it may be smart to diversify in land (I don’t currently have any).

Once you hit the $16,000 cap on your anniversary year, you keep 100% of the commission per transaction.You also get stocks for the transactions that you do and you can participate in the Revenue Share Plan.

Any advice for evaluating if it really is a good idea to 'invest' in this rather than stock market or a more conventional duplex type property in town?

Cash, stocks, real estate are not.When you inherit real estate or stocks, you get them at the stepped up value at the time of death.

Is it a good idea to take my stock gains and use it for an investment property

This was in various forms, mainly working summers and investing in ultra-conservative stocks.

Some can do great (30-50% returns) and some go bust.But really, a decent index fund of the broader stock market (Wilshire 5000) can do better than REITs and RE index funds you mentioned. 

The income is tax-deferred, just like income from dividends on a stock investment made with a 401(K).