I got interested in investing around age 19 while in college. Made some stupid penny stock mistakes with savings from high school & graduation; probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I lost 90% of my net worth, but I am glad to have done that when I started with $2000. I left college without finishing my degree at age 20. Seemed like a colossal mistake but turned out very well: I got an entry level job (earning $28k per year), finished school part time, and ended up with very little college debt.

Today, age 38. Never married. Worked my way up and changed jobs a few times, so I now earn $70k pre-tax. But salary was only recently this high. I live below my means. I've maxed my IRA and increase my 401k contributions every year (and have been lucky to have a great match for 10 years). Last year my total contributions to retirement funds (including employer's contribution) were $25k. That's a big chunk of my income, but it reduces my taxable income and lots of people live on $50k pretax, so why can't I??

I now own a small home with > 25% equity and have $400k in my retirement accounts. I didn't make any lucky investments or anything, just an index fund in my IRA and a few large / mid cap mutual funds in 401k. No risky investments or anything to get where I am.

I think most young people on this site (reddit, not r/personalfinance) complain that young people today will never be able to save and I don't believe that. They are just expecting it too soon. It's just a gradual accumulation of wealth. If you are making $15k a year and don't have great prospects for advancement than obviously that's a different situation. Also, if you took out $200k in student loans for an undergrad degree, I feel for you as well.