I have the bulk of my retirement in real estate rentals. I wish I was astute enough in my younger years to have invested wisely. In my 50s now with little in market investments, primarily because I don’t know anything about investing. Had friend who were taken advantage of by investment t brokers so I’m leery of enlisting a person “knowledgae” in investing.
My dad always used to say invest in things you use. Guess that would be wise.
And, funds are so large, and they are forbidden by law from owning more than XY% of any one company, so they cannot change their mix very readily.
As a result, a mutual fund which is "hot" now, will not likely stay hot.
And as a second result, a low-cost index Fund (say Vanguard S&P 500) outperforms most actively managed funds with less cost.
Add that to dollar-cost-averaging, and, over time, you'll do pretty well.
I understand you don't have 30 years left...but the advantage your real-estate rentals might have, is that
a), they provide "current" income...unless the bulk of the rent you charge is going to pay off the principal, and how far you have it paid down is not any of my business.
b) they are inflation protected, mostly, since as prices go up, you charge more for rent.
c) presumably, you can sell the entire piece of real estate ...but maybe not on a moment's notice.