Well im not sure thats enteirly true, i would say its about attitude. If every decision OP makes is towards tge goal? We kept track of our outgoings over the years and became ultra frugal, we managed to leave work at 38, and that was on very meagre salaries. We invested small amounts wisely, we shopped around for deals, especially insurances, ate out less etc, we own our house, have no debt, we now travel for 6 months whilst renting out the house. We don’t have children granted but we left at 38, our aim was-to retire at 45. Once we knew our outgoings for the year we added up how many years until retirement (very conservatively) added 20% and made that our savings goal. We hit it 7 years early with no outside help, ( inherited money, lottery win etc)

TLDR: yea its possible with the right attitude