And it sounds like you serendipitously had gloves on throughout all this --even blood-borne illnesses can't pass to you if their blood stays on the outside of your gloves!

Thoughts on a short term sacrifice on cash flow to live more comfortably? 

That could be a great way to find and stay engaged with local investors and opportunities. http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsYou can also search for other investors in that area and follow their journey on Bigger Pockets here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/usersFinally, if you haven't already plugged into the Bigger Pockets podcast, I can't recommend it highly enough - it's been a wealth of education and a huge confidence builder as me and my husband have pursued REI and built our portfolio.Best of luck to you and look forward to following your journey!

I am aware I can pay myself whatever I choose but...I am refining my 'systems' and would like to acknowledge my hardwork etc in order to keep growing and stay motivated. 

Plus, if you have your license, you will need to work under a real estate broker for the first four years as a minimum, and different brokers have different rules about what they are comfortable allowing you to do.

Yet SOH is here to stay and should be factored into the decision to buy a home that you can claim as your homestead vs continuing to rent one where ultimately you the tenant pay the landlord's larger and faster-growing property tax bill.Today my home would conservatively rent for $1,700 as a 3/2, and perhaps $2,100 total if split into a 2/1 and 1/1.

Stay out of debt (completely out of debt)Get your degree (While on active duty it's free and you don't touch your GI bill) Buy low cost index fundsBuy some high risk stocksSave save save save saveRead every real estate book you can get your hands onPlay it out over 20 years.

I work full-time and my wife stays home with our three kiddos so the idea is to be able to do things on our own time, make offers, check out properties, etc.Local REIA meet-ups are definitely on the immediate to-do list.

I will have a pension to live off of, but due to my divorce it won't be enough to live comfortably with a house payment.  

Have been thinking seriously about getting our feet wet here in Springfield, and then we'd have a start whether we stay or not.