[prostoalex]

That seems to work short- and medium-term, but any time people face a financially significant event (marriage, children, parents' disability, spouse's disability, personal disability) they wish they had a larger savings cushion to rely on.

Most people's earnings peak between 25 and 45, one can always cut down their consumption and pick up subsistence farming at 50 with a fat corporate 401(k) and a paid-off house.