Realistically, how common is your situation? It seems like it would take the right combination of hard work, ability, the right personality, and a decent amount of luck to get where you are.

All the tech guys I know do decent. Most 100-150k salary in medium cost of living areas. Some make more, but work crazy hours or live in very HCOL areas where the increase salary doesn’t translate into increased net worth or better lifestyle.

As for the finance guys I know, back in college most of them told me they were going into finance because they wanted to be rich. One of them hit it big, but had very significant family connections that set him up right out of college. 2 make great money (~300-500k) selling corporate insurance, but hustle their asses off. A few make decent money (~100-150k) working for bigger financial institutions. The overwhelming majority are couldn’t find real finance jobs, work as low level sales people, or have other jobs in the industry that would never lead to fatFIRE money.