Independent Research
This answer comes late, but I hope it is still relevant to you, or maybe to others in a similar situation. 

You don't need degrees to do research. Anyone can do it and anyone can publish their research, provided it is acceptable to reviewers and editors. 

The difficult part, however, is to get feedback on what you are doing so that you get some assurance of both its correctness and its value. That is easier for graduate students and faculty members at universities and institutes. But it isn't impossible for an independent researcher. 

The key is to build a circle of people (or even a single person) with similar interests, who is willing to read your work and give you feedback. One way to do this is to contact some professors at a local university and ask for assistance. Some will be willing to help, even to collaborate, but others won't want to make the effort. So it may take a search. 

One of the most important mathematicians of the 20th century, Srinivasa Ramanujan working in India and with little formal education, made contact with G. H. Hardy in England, and it was that association that brought his work to the fore.