I came across the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” in my early twenties. The book doesn't actually contain any detailed or specific ways to get rich or retire young, but it did open my eyes to the concept of assets and the fact that I could retire early if I accrued enough of it.
Now I was a raging video game addict(still am), and there was nothing I wanted to do more than play video games all day without having to work for the rest of my life, so I decided that I would retire by age 35 or die trying anyway.
I started reading anything I could get my hands on regarding investing, real estate, stock market, self-improvement, financial freedom, blah blah blah yaddah yaddah.
I also started saving like Scruge McDuck and didn't spend any money unless it helped me in some way to retire early and young.
Now as I was doing all this shit starting in the early 2000s, I tried to convince close friends and family to do the same, because hey who the hell doesn't want to get rich and not have to work??? Well, no one around me believed I was pursuing something worthwhile or realistic. There were very few people in my life who actually believed and supported me until I actually became a millionaire, coincidentally, at age 35. My own sister, aunt, nor my wife believed me until my assets actually grew to 2 million dollars, at which point I promptly quit my job as a manufacturing engineer in 2018.
For anyone who doesn't happened to have already done something like this, your net worth or assets doesn't actually grow like a linear graph. It usually happens more like an exponential graph so it looks like the end will never come for a long time, until suddenly your shit grows a lot faster without you trying that much harder. I actually thought I was going to need more time than age 35 because my assets were still only a few hundred thousand by the time I was about 30. But then with a little luck and balls and a long time at last, shit happened and I was actually a millionaire before I hit my 36th birthday. Since I quit my job 3 years ago, my networth hasn't really gone down even though I basically spent 3 years playing video games, being interested in starting a business, buying a somewhat expensive car(Model X Plaid), and spending a relatively little amount of time making a few trades in the stock market and purchasing real estate properties.
I mainly made my money through the stock market and a bit of real estate. I'm sure there are other avenues of investing like Forex trading or whatever else, but I was too fucking lazy so I stuck with what is considered the two main vehicles for moderately rich people.
When I actually quit my job, I didn't try to hide the fact that I was basically retiring as an investor and answered honestly if anyone at work asked. Some were genuinely happy for me, or inspired by me, or congratulated me. Maybe one third of the people including those that were close to me. The rumor spread like wildfire though, and maybe a third of fuckers talked shit behind my back even though I had never done them wrong or disrespected them. Some people just didn't understand the concept of assets and investing and asked me how I would live the rest of my life with only a million dollars or two. I didn't really care wtf anyone thought and by this time, it didn't even surprise me that some people either didn't get it and/or were only jealous/angry. I don't have to see them again unless I want to anyway, so too bad if they don't like me.
If anyone cares, I now have most of my money in local and out of state rental properties and syndicated real estate funds, and still a few hundred thousand in the stock market. I used to buy and sell stocks of companies that I was familiar with or believed in. Now because I am lazy about doing research and sort of unmotivated after retirement, I mainly stick to acquiring Tesla stock or long term calls when it dips a lot. AMD was also my favorite stock but I think that Tesla has a better future outlook.
If I were starting over from zero and I wanted to go the save and invest route again, I would just focus on progressing in my job position to increase my income and put as much of it as I can into either the SP500 index or, in my case because I believe in Tesla as a company and it's leadership, Tesla stocks or calls. I would do this monthly every time I get paid regardless of the stock market, like clockwork. This wouldn't be 100% guaranteed to make you a millionaire in a decade or two, but if I had to bet my balls on it, and given that you actually make somewhat of an average income and commit most of it with discipline, I would wager that it does rather than not. Don't greedy buy when shit goes up and panic sell when shit crashes, like your emotions will tell you to do. This is the reason why not many retail investors end up making money in the stock market.
If the stock market isn't your thing, you can read up as much as you can on real estate and start small with a cheap property somewhere that brings in monthly rent and work your way up as you constantly save up every penny that you possibly can.
For me though, if I really had to start over, I would take the starting my own business route, whatever it may be. This would be a more extreme and difficult route, but the payoff would also be much bigger and potentially could shorten the time it takes to be a millionaire by a significant amount, although Andy Frisella says it took him 12 years to become a successful entrepreneur from scratch, so maybe it isn't quicker just much harder but I still think it's the route I would go as it is much more exciting with a bigger reward, at least in my eyes. Also, after becoming a millionaire, being able to still do something productive with your life with the people that you actually like being around becomes a much more important aspect of life. So running your own business serves double purpose, not to mention the fact that without businesses, our society would suck balls if you really think about it.
So if you hate work, like I did, here's my anecdotal experience for you to gain whatever out of it that you can. If you think I'm completely wrong and a lucky moron/jackass, that's fine too.
I think that the world is inherently unfair and there are aspects of our society that are rigged. But, all in all, unless you are severely disabled, anyone can reach financial freedom if they really wanted to and had the will. I don't think I'm especially smart or anything. Just rational and stupid strong-willed.
In my view, living with a constant disdain for capitalism and corporations doesn't really help you get anything or anywhere in life. Yes, the world is fucked up, so I'm gonna do what I need to do to unfuck myself and if I can have fun with other people along the way and maybe even end up helping other people who are trying to unfuck themselves, great. Anything sounds better than spending a life hating the world I live in.
Peace out.