Interesting reading and a lot of knowledge and experience. I was a landlord for awhile ( rented out my condo when I bought my house ) it was a hassle luckily my renters always paid the rent on time. If you or anybody decides to go that route make sure to run a credit report on the potential tenant. There are a lot of B.Sers out there with sob stories to try and get you to rent to them. My friend is selling a house now that he rented out for close to ten years he is so relieved to no longer be a landlord. 17 years ago I was laid off from a job with a big pharma company after 21 years I had a 401 K and a pension not knowing any better I rolled it over into an annuity and it has actually done quite well beating expectations as far as what it was expected to gain. I'm 68 and retired ( sort of ) my house is paid off and we have no real big monthly bills and my wife still works ( younger than me ) I know in a few years I will have to start withdrawing from the annuity even if I don't need the $$ and am not looking forward paying the taxes I am going to have to pay on the withdrawal.