Today we’re going to talk about the future of retirement and how real estate is an often overlooked vehicle for securing your financial future.  Increasingly, pensions are being converted to 401(k)s which is shifting the retirement risk to employees.  This has caused today’s guest to reconsider traditional beliefs about retirement savings. Eric Martel lost a fortune during the dot-com crash of 2001 and started looking for alternative ways to earn passive income.  He started various businesses including a gourmet sauce company, but eventually came back to his first love, real estate, which led him to form Martel Turnkey.  After four years of rapid success, he was able to retire from his W2 job.  Eric is also the author of the recent book called “Stop Trading Your Time For Money”. Today we discuss Eric’s beginnings as a real estate investor when he purchased an apartment building at the age of 18.  He quickly burned out on investing though because he was handling all of the property management and repairs.  We’re also going to discuss what it means to have financial freedom, and the goal setting and actionable steps you can take to achieve it. Eric will also share the turn-key model he’s developed investing in secondary cities with rehabbed houses costing (roughly) $100,000 that can be purchased with 20% down and cashflow $300 a month.  We discuss the turnkey aspects of this type of investing, the power of leverage and depreciation, and the risks from tenants and property condition. This is an important episode for anyone who’s paying attention to their potential retirement income, and will get you to start thinking about meeting your living expense by generating additional passive income.  You can find out more about Eric on Instagram at E_Martel or facebook at Eric.Martel.ca, or https://marteleric.com Today’s episode is brought to you by Green Property Management, managing everything from single family homes to apartment complexes in the West Michigan area. https://www.livegreenlocal.com And RCB & Associates, helping Michigan-based real estate investors and small business owners navigate the complex world of health insurance and medicare benefits. https://www.rcbassociatesllc.com