The one thing I did right was retirement. I wasn’t expecting to get a pension when I started.
Me too. I retired after 33 years in oil and gas. Walked away from a middle management job.... picked up a real estate license to keep me busy. I have rental property etc. I play golf every day. I have a 3 handicap now. I volunteer at my church a lot. I retired at age 53. I pay WAY less taxes now than I did. WAY LESS. We have no debt and all we'll need for the rest of our lives.
There is more to life than working 50 to 60 hours a week so you can give thousands and thousands of dollars to a government that completely wastes it.
I worked for a small business for 20 years and then I started my own. When I made money I contributed to my 401K, but since starting my own business, in this economy, I am lucky to pay my bills, forget 401K contributions. Two stock market crashes dented my mutual funds seriously.