My parents are the same. They own a 2m dollar house in east van. Something like 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms for 2 people. They are reluctant to downsize. They say it's because they have too much junk to clean up. They are hitting the big 7-0 soon. I told them they could just sell the house, and along with their investment and my dad's pension, really just live at one of those senior living centers (Legacy Senior Living). They have about 1 m in their portfolio so with a 3 m dollar portfolio (after selling the house), generating 3.5% in dividends (an ETF like VDY will generate that for you), will get them 105K a year without touching your principal. No need to rent out their house to strangers. Just liquidate and live in a smaller place but more convenient. Then along with the pension etc. they will never run out of money. It's a pretty sweet deal.