So after these 10 years you’re free to quit working for ever, work as little as you feel, and for any amount of money. In other words: you’re free to do whatever you want.
((((((((50*1.07+50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07 + 50)*1.07*0.04 = 30,000 per year income, after saving 50,000 per year and making 7% for 10 years at a 4% withdrawal rate, which is very aggressive for a retirement longer than the standard 30 years.
((((((((((((((((((50*1.06+50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06 + 50)*1.06*0.026 = 50,000 per year income, after saving 50,000 per year and making 6% for 20 years at a 2.6% withdrawal rate, which should be relatively safe even for a very long retirement.
50% of a McDonalds burger flipper salary while a large percentage of their salary, is still a very small amount of money.
Where does this logic of 50% for 20 years come from? Seems like a serious broad "rule of thumb" kind of thing that is only just barely realistic?
It doesn't matter your actual salary, if you can get by on 35% of it and save the other 65% then it's all that matters. After you've saved for 10-11 years, you'll get the 35% of your original salary you live on, in perpetuity, from what you saved earlier.
Now of course it's much easier to save 65% when you're paid more than if you're paid minimum wage, but still. And you'll probably want some slack because these numbers are really the bare minimum, but that's the idea. Saving 65% of your income as a SE is really not that hard for a lot of us, even less so when you realize this is the ticket to being free within 10-15 years.