Originally Posted by NextGen

I think Dave can speak for himself thank you very much.

Dave - thanks for the details. A lot of what you said was ringing a lot of bells for me. I too have been very fortunate. I cashed in some stock options just when the stock market was crashing. I used the money to make myself debt free. I have worked my way into a six figure job. Even though I make good money I live "below" my means.

I made enough money from my business to pay cash for my X and cash for another SUV for my wife (cash is usually the best way to buy a car!). I refinanced my mortgage a few years back to a 15 year and now have less than 10 years left on it. The housing market in the Phoenix area was crazy about a year back, as a result my house is worth 110% more than what I paid. I could sell, move to the midwest and get rid of the mortgage all together.

Unless I have some financial disaster (unemployed for a long time for instance) I think I have a good chance to get out of the rat race early. But you know how life is, just when you think you have it figured out, it changes.