Real estate and retirement

[Tomasz Kaminski]

I currently have (1) duplex that i'm house hacking in, collecting about half the mortgage as payment and covering the other half with my day job income. I'm also putting away money into 401k (roth) from my job as it's giving away free money matching.

Unfortunately the support from work is not giving me adequate tools to plan my future considering my real estate and my goals.

My plan is to keep the real estate until i can suck out all the depreciation (or most) then exchange like-kind property to not have to pay that money back. Not considering passing any of this in inheritence (no kids, plans) so i just need to maximize my returns.

What is a good estimate to use regarding retirement funding from both rental property and 401k? Any tips?

Finally, this may be a legal question (changing based on location). Would i be able to exchange a "like-kind" property from this duplex to a single family home, keep it an investment property and move into it say a year or two after? Would there be any penalties or fees that i would have to pay back for this?

Thanks for the help,

Tom

[Michael Plaks]

@Tomasz Kaminski

Not what you want to hear, but you're planning your trip without determining your destination.

A house-hacking duplex and a 401k will not let you retire anytime soon. Get with a good accountant or a good financial planner (careful with the latter, since they're usually salesmen more than advisors) and figure out your long-term plans and how retirement works. 

To your specific question - yes, you can exchange a duplex into a single family home or several of them. Yes, you can eventually move into your investment property if it was not your plan during an exchange. But this is not what you should focus on now. These are details. Get the big picture first.