Or just get a great job with a good company. What they don't tell you is that once you reach a certain point on the income scale, money basically just falls into your lap. Good companies will give employees stock grants (not options, grants, or gifts, of stock) just to stick around, and on top of that they let you buy their stock at a discount and make it easy to fully fund your retirement. Some often have discount programs that make it cheaper for you to buy all kinds of things. Yes, you _can_ scrimp and save and work like a dog to retire early, or you can go out to dinner and get enough sleep and not worry about retiring because your life is pretty great. The big downside is these companies have annual layoffs and sooner or later one will probably get you, but pretty much all jobs are like that. And if you're making $50k and saving $10-20k/year, every time you're laid off you likely go right through your savings.