Sure.
I figured out by the time I was about 28 that no govt or person was going to make me prosper. I had to do it myself. The wife lived below our means and invested the extra until I was 60 and she was 53, then we retired. I make more money now in retirement than I average in my “working” life. I have friends who have done the same.
Old habits don’t die easy. I could drive anything I want now but my daily driver is a 14 year-old pickup. It’s a habit and I like my old truck.