I'm already doing great, BUT I'm nearly 58 and that is a huge advantage over the younger folks with college costing 10x what it cost my parents - and I had parents who could afford state college.

Mostly though, I made a lot of money when I was young so I spent stupidly, married even more stupidly, and was still able to pull it out in my 30s and 40s.

I work really hard and long, but so do a LOT of people. I was also lucky. I had no debt coming out of college, so I was able to take some chances that others can't.

I live below my means for about 20 years now, and that makes all the difference. A huge one is zero credit card debt for nearly 30 years.