Through hard-work and thrift, I retired at age 50, seventeen years ago. If the govenment will leave me alone, I will do okay.
I wish we had succeeded as well as you have, Blam...
But, every time we had a good year (self-employed solo architect) the dadgummed .gov changed the rules on us, and we had to dip into savings to survive and raise our 4 children. We started the solo practice back in the mid 70’s.
So think back to all the changes in tax laws that affected the up and down construction industry, and know why saving was somewhat problematic.
I would assume most very tiny businesses have a similar problem of not being able to plan for the long term because of constant changes in the tax laws.
And, some of us not well informed enough to play the market games, or do not have the free time, and need to have savings to carry through a downturn.
And, Blam, I hope the .gov leaves you alone. But, I am not optimistic!
To paraphrase Leon Trotsky: “You may not be interested in government, but government is interested in you.”