I bet one could count on one hand the number of middle-class workers who have that much saved away. Even without a Regressive government chipping away at our earnings with both fists it would be next to impossible to save that much.
They must be talking about lotto winners...
The secret is compounded earnings. If you save aggressively when you are young, the compounded growth is amazing. Just the growth of my investments last year was over 4 times my annual salary.
My husband and I are 61, we saved up $2 million, he’s retired and I will retire in a year. We are not lotto winners and our house was paid off almost 14 years ago. We have had middle class incomes. We’ve inherited nothing from anyone.
The key is to live below your means, pay yourself first, and save and invest over a long period of time. The biggest steps we took: always maxxing out IRA’s and 401k’s, paying off and living in the same very nice but modestly sized house and not buying brand new fancy cars. We are not tacky frugal tightwads at all. We’ve always lived comfortably and generously. We just decided early on that we did not have to keep up with the Joneses. Of course having good health so that we could work for many years has been a blessing.
You should read the millionaire next door