Hi, I'm 54, have had my head buried in my career, and am just starting to think about retirement, now that I have earned tenure. Salary 60K, have a very large student loan, still renting. I started my prof job pretty late in life, at 48. Have thought about nothing but science, publishing, tenure. As it stands, my TIAA-CREF retirement plan will have me at about 35K after taxes per year annuity retirement plan if I retire at 70. I can live on that but it will be tight. I am looking to significantly enhance my retirement income.
Since I will now buy a place to live, and am single, I have been looking hard at buying a fourplex on an FHA loan and living one apartment; I've been looking at properties, and reading books. I'm concluding that here in Las Cruces, NM, it seems impossible to find one that will cash flow without paying much more down than I can (30-40K). The list of multi-family homes available in this town of 100,000 has not changed in a month, none of them will come close to cash flow at their prices. Plus, the property won't become a source of income until the loan is paid off when I'm 84. I don't understand well how it can be financially beneficial in a shorter time if it's barely cash flowing. Appreciation? Is that a sure thing? Tax benefits? Just don't know enough to put it all together.
So maybe this is the wrong place to put my retirement energies and funds. Perhaps just contributing more to my retirement account, an IRA, stocks, or some small business would be smarter. I just don't know, as I've never known anybody who did any of these or talked to me about it. I feel completely in the dark. I'm trying to educate myself, but from various google searches have seen good discussion here, so thought I'd visit here and see what advice more knowledgeable folks might have.
Thanks,
Jim
Since I will now buy a place to live, and am single, I have been looking hard at buying a fourplex on an FHA loan and living one apartment; I've been looking at properties, and reading books. I'm concluding that here in Las Cruces, NM, it seems impossible to find one that will cash flow without paying much more down than I can (30-40K). The list of multi-family homes available in this town of 100,000 has not changed in a month, none of them will come close to cash flow at their prices. Plus, the property won't become a source of income until the loan is paid off when I'm 84. I don't understand well how it can be financially beneficial in a shorter time if it's barely cash flowing. Appreciation? Is that a sure thing? Tax benefits? Just don't know enough to put it all together.
So maybe this is the wrong place to put my retirement energies and funds. Perhaps just contributing more to my retirement account, an IRA, stocks, or some small business would be smarter. I just don't know, as I've never known anybody who did any of these or talked to me about it. I feel completely in the dark. I'm trying to educate myself, but from various google searches have seen good discussion here, so thought I'd visit here and see what advice more knowledgeable folks might have.
Thanks,
Jim