Retiring means different things to different people. Many people don't plan for things like future health conditions, inflation, etc. Some have kids and want to

Retiring means different things to different people. Many people don't plan for things like future health conditions, inflation, etc. Some have kids and want to pay for their college and leave something for them, others don't have kids or don't care. Some want to travel the world in retirement and some just want a log cabin away from everyone. Also, while I think there's less of it on HN than the rest of the internet, most people overstate their income, savings, skills, experience, etc. There's also a confirmation bias taking place, because most people aren't posting "I can't retire until I'm 72 because I have 4 kids to put through college and the stock market has screwed my 401k!" Your sample size on this is extremely small. ;) <insert star wars "stay on target" meme here> Ignore what you _think_ everyone else around you is accomplishing. Focus on yourself. Most of what you believe is taking place around you is smoke and mirrors.