Me being an ER pensioner, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people on here who have done it on their own through their own investment vehicles. My employer took the 13.5 percent out, matched it and when it's time to retire, you collect the check. The ERs without pensions had to discipline themselves to invest (that is no easy thing in an of itself), invest in the correct manner, be knowledgable of how to do it, set up appropriate draw down rates, worry about not outliving resources, and have to worry about things beyond their control such as market downdrafts. Almost a full time job in an of itself!
One of the things I most look forward to in ER is being able to spend the time on my portfolio that I should be (15-20 hours a week) as opposed to the couple of hours on weekends that I can now. I hope to be able to increase my return by a percentage point, which in itself is like a part time job, but one that I want to do.