Lots of people are doing self-directed retirement accounts these days and they'd love to have someone like you come along and show them a deal needing their money.Just remember there *IS* a "right" way to approach private lenders.

The previous bishop spent all the churches money before he got dementia and retired.

I would much rather retire to Kihei than Waikiki.

As far as Tampa there is a lot of money going into downtown thanks to Jeff Vinik who owes the local NHL team and 24 acres downtown, channelside( outdoor mall) and now word is one of Bill Gates investment firms suppose to invest another billion.

So the 250 Billion in interest actually pays your Social Security and many base cash flow for retirement and 401k accounts.

My day job is a software / web application developer but my dream has always been with Real Estate with the goal of acquiring enough rental units to ultimately retire.

welcome to BP i currantly live in southern oregon its a great place. there are tons of venues like what you describe as it is a retirement area on the wild and scenic rogue river.

@Stan Hopp, generally the rental income from investment properties is considered to be passive (you need active, earned self-employed income) - therefore it will not quality for contributions into a retirement plan.

Our ultimate goal is to own several properties to supplement our income and enhance our retirement, in addition to our current self funded retirement plans and my city pension.

With an IRA you will be exposed to higher gains when the market is doing well and have an alternative source of retirement income with a whole life policy to hedge against a bear market.