1. Married. No kids. $27k in checking, $371k in retirement accounts, with $90k of that easily accessible at a moment's notice. Wife works part time and freelances on the side. Live in the Midwest where cost of living is super low.

My secret? Be an electrical engineer who works in industry as a Controls Engineer. You'll always have a job because machines need to be programmed and keep running.

Also, I got super lucky and was able to have half my college paid for, and worked part time for the rest and graduated with only 1 semester's worth of loans.

Also got super duper lucky and got into an ESOP whose rose CRAZY percentages in the 12 years I was there.

We have two cars, one fully paid off, the other with a super low interest loan so I invested the cash amount and made a better return.

So the real answer is, to make money you have to start with money. It's not like I deprive myself.