<prompt> Human: Ok so a more detailed version of the situation. I have been talking to my dad for a few weeks about retirement and so forth. I have been wanting to advice him and tell him ideas but I have no background or particular experience in this topic. I would like to hear from you guys how we can best put to their money to work in order for them to continue living a comfortable lifestyle into retirement. Here is a little bit of their background. My parents immigrated here about 16 years ago with nothing as far as retirement savings. With a lot of hard work etc both my parents have become business owners bringing home anywhere from 600-700k combined annually. I know that retirement isnt something you should leave till you are this old but given their unique situation and their relatively fast growth the saving and planning just didnt take priority in the past years. Now, currently they do have a big cost of operating monthly as they do tend to live a little on the frivolous side, especially within the last few years. However I think they can really afford to put aside a big chunck of money a year if they really try. As it is, they usually have about 40-60K that they put aside each year. However, recently a failed business venue back in our country of origin cost my parents about all they money they had put aside this way over the last few years about 200K. They have pretty decent assets, their home is worth about 800K and they owe almost nothing on it. Their businesses are also worth some money even though i dont know precisely how much. Lastly they own an small office building worth about 200k and owe none of it. I am a med student and have no real understanding how what is a good way to go about this- In my super green and naive way of thinking I would like them to purchase small property taking as little money out as possible and renting it in order to begin creating a nice income flow, but again i would love to hear some advice from you all. Lastly, my dad has told me that his ideal retirement could happen with about 10K cash flow a month, so i guess that this is what we are shooting for. Thank you for reading this, I cant wait to read through your suggestions!  <response>: Eh, I know everyone leads a different life and I try not to judge.. but your parents bring in substantial income. I mean, I consider myself a high earner at 115k a year and theyre 5x that... Perhaps they should scale back their expectations, lead a simpler life, and money in savings. If they lived off 100k a year and saved the other 500k a year that theyre earning, and reduced their cost of living, theyd be retired in 3-5 years... To answer your actual question, Id figure out IRAs and 401ks first, then look into mutual funds. Anything you can put in tax deferred accounts first is obviously preferred. 