I've got an interesting question for investors of all experience levels. 

This time next year i will be exiting the military after 8 years and will not only be starting into my strategy of buy and hold investing with the ultimate goal of financial freedom, but beginning my career path outside of the military. I have a healthy amount of capital saved to begin investing, and will be using this next year to keep building my funds and continue my research and learning process.

So my question is this:

If you could start over (or are already using this approach), would you choose a real estate related profession to give you an edge with your investing? Or is it ultimately irrelevant and just being an active investor will give you all the know-how and edge that you need?

Examples: Becoming a licensed contractor, working as an agent or property manager, working at a bank in the loan department...