His advice is solid, but you have to consider how much of his personal success was due to being born at the right time: graduating with an engineering degree in

His advice is solid, but you have to consider how much of his personal success was due to being born at the right time: graduating with an engineering degree in the low-unemployment mid-90s (prior to globalization putting heavy pressure on wages), then buying a house (actually, several) before the debt-fueled housing bubble made shelter a massive % expense for everyone under 30 living with fewer than 3 roommates. And also being lucky enough to enter adulthood in a period of low taxes, oil & commodity prices, when companies were still willing to hire & train non-senior engineers. etc. Given the current state of the world - it seems quite unlikely that the average 21 year old US SW engineer graduating today will be able to replicate his results (~$500k within 7 years).