A 6% annual return is difficult in real estate. That said, if you can forego the annual return for some years, real estate will eventually provide a very good income. There are no guarantees that you will get 6% over the long haul in any investments. Several of the better allocation mutual funds will return 7% over the long haul or even 8%, but not year-to-year. I am concerned about leaving my principal balance for my heirs, so I am aiming to live on about a 3% return for everything, which gives about a 99% certainty that the principal balance will be intact in 40 years.

The project simply requires you to take my $1,000,000, leave that intact each year and return to me $60,000 for a 6% annual return. In 30 years, the $1,000,000 investment must still be there....(ie Principle protected)

any ideas?