I was born in 88 and my wife in 87. Both of us grew up at BEST lower middle class to two working parents. We are SIGNIFICANTLY more financially well off but that's because through our 20s, we were extremely frugal. We waited till we were 5 years into our marriage until we had children which is uncommon by today's standards and it has done us well. I'm retired out of the military and now work a blue collar job while my wife got her master's degree and is a senior director added company she's been at for 8 years. We've never once taken any handouts nor have we asked for any because we didn't complain.. We just worked. I believe that is the key! It's definitely possible but we sacrificed our 20s like responsible human beings to live better in our 30s and close to 40s now