[magneticnorth]

A lot of these points are reasons why I like the Mr Money Mustache approach to financial independence.

You can be "rich" by having the freedom to spend your time on what you want, and appreciating the cornucopia of luxuries that make up a typical American middle class life.

You can get there by living (happily!) on a lot less than 100% of what you make, and saving the rest. With some simplifying assumptions about investment returns, the actual dollar amount a person makes doesn't matter; it's just the fraction of their net income that they need to maintain their lifestyle that informs how long until retirement. E.g. if you can save 50% of your income, you can retire in 17 years. https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-si...