We have a townhouse that will be paid off in 20 years. Right now the tenant is paying the mortgage. That will give us a nice boost to our retirement.
And our retirement accounts are not large, so we will live on social security and the rental income

OP here. We have an investment property already -- a condo in DC that I bought pre-bubble. It will be paid off in a few years and I'm considering buying another property when it is. DC real estate seems pretty stable to me, though, of course anything could happen. I would not rely solely on real estate income for retirement (we're saving elsewhere too), but I do like that rental properties, once paid off, can act sort of like pension fund, in that the won't run out of funds.

My parents have done this over the last 2 decades. They have a mix of retail and residential as well as a couple of churches they picked up when the economy tanked. They're looking to retire within the next 5 years and the properties currently generate monthly income ~$10,000. Note that they've saved up in retire accounts otherwise as well. This was a diversification of their entire portfolio, not their whole retirement plan. I think that's the way to play it... you don't want your entire retirement reliant on real estate.

I think the point about diversification (or lack thereof for a lot of people who do this) is a good one. There was recently something about this in USAToday (although I don't think their money advice is always the best).

You know about the current real estate crisis right? We own properties and you can not count on them (no matter location) for income while working, and certainly not for retirement. No one can predict the market. If you are thinking of living there someday, I would say maybe. Have you talked to a financial planner OP? You should never have your assets (no matter how small) in one place.

Anybody planning to do this? What type of property do you own? What income does/will it bring in? (I realize this is hard to predict, as we are talking decades in the future...)

Any advice for people considering buying an investment property now?