Gen Xer here. I also want to retire early, but... not off to a good... middle? That's in large part my own fault - it wasn't even a consideration or on my radar

Gen Xer here. I also want to retire early, but... not off to a good... middle? That's in large part my own fault - it wasn't even a consideration or on my radar for a very long time. I came from a blue collar background, hand-to-mouth background. We were, as John Scalzi would say, "broke" but not quite "poor." My parents didn't retire so much as age out of the workforce and scrape by. Hope Gen Z'ers do better than I have...