I'm using HNL Bill's story for me with a few changes in red.
I'm in the 9.9%, but could have just as easily been in the bottom 50%. Had I not gone to college, obtained a couple of degrees, found continuous employment from 1973 to the present, and had chosen to spend everything, not saving up to half my income. I started slow and late, but through some level of fortune, hard work, willingness to relocate multiple times, willingness to work hard and take on increasing levels of responsibility, I pushed my way from nothing (while having poor and alcoholic, parents who couldn't pay for any of my college) to where I am today. No silver spoon or old money here.