my secret at retiring at 39 is to save your money, that is the ancient chinese secret. with savings make your money work for you and you will not have to work for your money. i never had a great job, started working my first real job at 27 for home depot. i socked the maximum i could into the company stock and in 4 years working there went through 3 splits. i ended walking out with 80K in stock, worked for another 8 years for $20 an hour and saved. when the real estate market crashed i dumped the whole thing into 4 houses that positive cash flow and that is what i live on today. i don't need to rely on social security or a pension plan, i made my own retirement just by merely saving.