I think the idea of early retirement, and being totally free to do what you want and untethered to the w*rkplace, is simply an alien concept to too many people. Heck, I think even the concept of investing, compounding, and delaying instant gratification for a greater future gain is lost on a lot of people.
I think my big turning point came in the summer of 1991. My Granddad let me have a financial magazine he was planning to throw out...Kiplingers, Money, something like that. Anyway, it had some article in it that showcased some high performing mutual funds. One of them listed was 20th Century Ultra (American Century Ultra today). It had a return of something like 20%.
I ran the numbers through a calculator, and discovered that if I invested $1,000 into something that could return 20% per year, by the 39th year it would be worth $1M! Now obviously, this isn't realistic. First off, I'm sure there's very little out there that will consistently give you 20% per year. Then there's taxes. Then factor in inflation. $1M today is roughly the equivalent of $555K back in 1991. Go back 39 years, and it's more like $265K. So, even if I could get 20% each year, and no taxes, I guess it would be more like turning $1K into ~$265K in 1991 money, after 39 years.
But, I also figured that, over my lifetime, I'd be investing a lot more than just that initial $1000, so I should be well-off financially long before that 39 year period was up.
I remember explaining that concept to one of my friends, at the time. The only thing he could grasp was "Man, that's a long time to wait for a million bucks!"
Anyway, going back to 1991, I did end up investing with 20th Century, but I goofed up and bought their Growth fund instead of their Ultra. I'm not sure exactly how much it's made over the years, because at one point I had to sell it off, during a bad divorce, and then bought some back when I could afford it. And, I've bought and sold a bit over the years as I've rebalanced. I do remember it was going for around $21 per share when I bought it back in 1991, and it just closed at $33.71 last night. Just inflation since 1991 should bring that up to around $37.79 per share, but the current share price doesn't reflect the fact that it's paid out a lot of capital gains over the years. According to their website, it's averaged 13.59% over its life. I think the fund started in 1971, and this assumes all distributions are reinvested.
Anyway, awhile back I figured I'd try to retire around age 50-51. I'll be 48 in a few months, and I'm still on course for that timeframe. But, as the years have passed and the date gets closer, I haven't been so open about my plans. I've learned that people either don't believe it, think I'm crazy, foolish for taking such a chance, etc.