If given the option, the vast majority of Americans would choose to retire early. Of course, doing so is challenging. Most of us need more financial resources to achieve this dream.
Early retirement means having access to regular cash flow, stable income-generating assets, and the ability to manage those assets to allow early retirement.
You can use a few different formulas to calculate your retirement number depending on your invested assets. All of them are based on your estimated annual expenses.
A good starting point for estimating retirement expenses for most people is to use their current annual costs.Of course, this number will change as you get closer to retirement (hopefully decreasing as you pay off debt and other obligations).
After subtracting all your operating expenses, including capital reserves, the income from the real estate should match your expected retirement spending.
Of course, evaluating a rental property and managing one is a full-time activity. Although IRS classifies rental property as passive income, any landlord can tell you it is far from passive.