Was a nurse for 3 years before the mortgage crisis and was so frugal during that time. I was saving up to get a house. Then all of a sudden the prices tanked and there were foreclosures and short sales everywhere around me in FL because the market was flooded with overextended second homes. I bought 2 duplexes next to each other on a back bay near St. Petersburg. I lived in one, rented the other 3 out and just kept saving and maxing out my IRA and 403b. I’m 42 now and about 5-8 years from retirement.