And investing in the market is not work? Everything is work unless you are lazy. Rentals are an investment because I am investing in the property and the cash flow. I also do full screening before renting and credit/employee checks. If someone is not paying their rent they get evicted. However month to month all I do is get rent checks and pay bills and once or twice a year call in a repair man for something simple. I have manager than handles most of this freeing me up for more investments. Nothing is easy but hard work pays off.
throw everything in QQQ... there is no 'hard work', other than stomaching the draw downs lol... but everything has draw down.... it's just not as obvious as rentals. the psychological aspect may just be the most 'hard work'.
$900K not enough? I spent less than total for the 4 properties to buy them. 20% down and financed it is more than enough. If you are in mid size city you can get 2 to 3 studio apartments 100% cash. Not looking to buy office buildings here but it is more than enough to not even need to use all of it. I am telling you from personal experience. Real estate financing can be gotten if you put 20% down minimum and get the property appraised.
OP already has money in an IRA so he already has exposure to the market. He has free cash he is asking about...why over leverage everything in buy and hold.