I think most of you are not really considering the most underlying factor in this discussion, lifestyle. It's really hard to change a lifestyle. I view the idea of changing someone's financial habits to be a more complicated task than getting someone to quit substance abuse, because it's not apparent the amount of damage people do to themselves until the end. This is at both ends, and I doubt that most of you (inclusive of myself) are willing to take certain sorts of risks.
With respect to
@Momus, does it really matter whether you have the same numbers as he does? For him (I assume he's male), it doesn't really matter what his numbers are, he shouldn't need to care. His lifestyle is such that irrespective of anything done to the market, he is always in the position of financial gain. That's the point. More than investing well or having a huge endowment, the lifestyle of living beneath his means will always work out to his financial advantage, the end. At the rate he is going, he will make the numbers, no problem.
But there are two interesting problems associated with reaching your goals. What if Momus got $5M tomorrow? This is where the lifestyle gets interesting, I seriously doubt that he would change a thing, why would he? Yeah, we all talk about retirement, but why mess up a good thing? I would argue that there is NO reason why Momus or anyone else would quit their jobs having made their numbers, unless either their life goals significantly change (which almost never happens) or there is something more lucrative to do with his time. So, unless Momus gets enough in the way of assets that asset management becomes a more time-consuming task than practice, I expect Momus to milk CVS for all they're worth until such a time when other factors demand change. I can't see a Momus who becomes just "interest-rate" rich.
I say this from a position of both me personally and my household as a combined sense in possession of liquid assets (not even consider illiquid) that there is no reason to work anymore, and most of my wife's work partners at the firm are very much in that position. Why continue working anyway to the point of an early grave for most of them? Mainly, what else is there to do and why screw up a good thing? The few times I've been idled, I've worried deeply about finding something to do. All my assets are passively managed well, so I don't even consider active management even though I conceivably could make quite a bit more. What changes when you make those numbers are what are you actually playing for? For me, it's relevance and power, so I can afford to work the job I do. For my wife, it's the thrill of beating someone (not even victory, winning is fine, but destroying someone is even better). But the hard part is that when you have those assets, those assets do own you. You have to be considerate to choose a spouse (or else, have a good prenup and a divorce lawyer), you have to take care of your health (because you can't take the money with you), and you have to take care of your time (because you're not getting any more of it). Inertia plays the most important role in life, and making money is a lifestyle.
But if you don't understand that making money is more about a lifestyle and a philosophy than it is about income generation, then even if you do come into some money, you'll lose it eventually through your stupidity. But also, you need to go for what you want in balance, because you really can't use one asset to offset a lack of another efficiently. If you becomes rich at the expense of finding someone, you won't easily find anyone. They say that money talks, and it has the best pickup lines, but if your ideal is to make money, would you want to attract the sort of person who listens to money in that way? The opportunity costs are real, and you can't get everything. You have to choose and be measured about what you really want. The sad part is, for most of the social circle I am in, work and those matters are a much higher priority over family, friends, or even money, work makes those people happy, and I kind of am worried that I treat my own relationships that way.
We've already sacrificed quite a bit to get where we are, try to use that sacrifice in pursuit of the ideals you really want. The problem needs to account for both passive lifestyle as well as active choice. Momus's lifestyle is so profoundly idealistic that even if he gets wiped out tomorrow, it won't really matter, because he'll make that money back as his convictions to an earning lifestyle is that strong.
