I "retired" at the end of 2021, in my mid-40s after a 25-year career in technology, all with a single company (until they got bought out mid-2021). Both my wife and I used long careers with a small company to reach executive positions in those companies. She is still working and plans to continue working until our children are out of high school. While working, we max out our 401ks, HSAs, 529s, and after that, commit a fixed amount of money each month to self-managed investment accounts primarily invested in dividend-growth stocks with DRIP enabled. This combined with a generous profit-sharing 401k plan from my former company and living comfortably below our means allowed us to build up both a comfortable post-60 retirement fund and a transition fund for before those retirement funds will be accessible without penalty. We have lived in our current house for 13 years, and it has increased in value as well.

Our plan was always to work until the children leave high school, at which point we will not be tied to the school district and can move wherever we want. Our mortgage will be paid off around the same time. When the children are out of the house, we will decide whether to sell the house or rent it, but regardless, our plan is to move somewhere else, probably outside of the US in a place that has a lower cost-of-living than our current location. Predicting where that will be now is a little short-sighted, but if it were to happen today, it would most likely be Portugal or Costa Rica (two low-cost, warm, expat-friendly locations). Based on our projections, we won't be rich, but we also will not have to worry about money.

I put "retired" in quotes because I may go back to work. I am in no rush, and I do a little consulting here and there, but I left work to spend more time with my kids and 9 months out of the year, I have a lot of time during the day when I am not doing that. Also, it makes my wife jealous and I want her to still love me.

For those thinking about retirement, the two biggest things that worked for us was paying ourselves first (max out tax-advantaged investment accounts, invest them in run-of-the-mill dividend-paying equities, and leave them alone) and making a profit every month (living below our means, although some months may not be profitable, every year is). Those profits do not include the money you put into investments. We chose stability where possible (almost no job hopping in favor of constant growth within our current jobs, a house in a good school district and then working on it rather than hopping to a new one), and making decisions in light of the overall goal -- retiring when the kids are out of the house.

But, let's be clear, we are very fortunate. We have had a lot of things go our way. We have a lot of advantages that not everyone has. What we find acceptable, not everyone does. What works for us may not work for everyone else.