A pretty smart guy once told me years ago that we all have pretty much what we want. I didn't believe it back then, but the older I get, the smarter he seems to have been. In our society, there are apples hanging from trees almost everywhere. It's up to us to figure out how to pick them.
A relative of mine was a pretty average and unmotivated student growing up. But he always claimed that he was going to figure out how to retire early with enough money to live as he wanted. He started his own business and eventually expanded it to a really successful small operation. He also helped almost anyone who ever asked him to. His employees loved him for the most part and when he was 42, he'd decided that 22 years of 70+ hours a week was enough and that his nest egg was big enough. He sold the business to one of his employees for a thousand dollars down and monthly payments and retired. That employee paid him off 2 years ago and is, herself, now, almost as successful as he was. He credits his success to long hours, hard work, focus, and careful money mangement. I say the good karma he built up along the way didn't hurt, either.
The moral is probably that if you want it, you can figure out a way to get it.
A relative of mine was a pretty average and unmotivated student growing up. But he always claimed that he was going to figure out how to retire early with enough money to live as he wanted. He started his own business and eventually expanded it to a really successful small operation. He also helped almost anyone who ever asked him to. His employees loved him for the most part and when he was 42, he'd decided that 22 years of 70+ hours a week was enough and that his nest egg was big enough. He sold the business to one of his employees for a thousand dollars down and monthly payments and retired. That employee paid him off 2 years ago and is, herself, now, almost as successful as he was. He credits his success to long hours, hard work, focus, and careful money mangement. I say the good karma he built up along the way didn't hurt, either.
The moral is probably that if you want it, you can figure out a way to get it.