I don't know whose life works in this extremely simple way, but it sure isn't mine. I've gone from making good money to being broke to making good money again and everywhere in between in my 35 years on this planet.
These types of things never make any practical sense because they assume I'm going to be working at the same job for the same pay for the next 30 years or so. Maybe that was the norm in the '60s but few people do that anymore.
Saving money is good, no doubt, but if you're concerned about retiring early, you're much better off figuring out how to do it by making more money.
If you save a high enough percentage of your take-home income, the article actually argues that you could be done in 7-10 years starting from scratch, which sounds a lot more doable to me than the 30 years you're expecting.
The problem with the extremes of this logic is that if you scrimp and save and live poor to get to that 75% savings rate... you still have to live poor for the rest of your life on that 25% of your take home.
Given the hedonic treadmill, you are more likely to feel happiness from any increase in your standard of living, but you reset to your prior level of happiness. So make your bumps in standard of living as small as possible.
These types of things never make any practical sense because they assume I'm going to be working at the same job for the same pay for the next 30 years or so. Maybe that was the norm in the '60s but few people do that anymore.
Saving money is good, no doubt, but if you're concerned about retiring early, you're much better off figuring out how to do it by making more money.