I do not think of myself as a smart person. Just a normal guy who made some dumb decisions, then learned from those mistakes, still made dumb decisions but benefit from a long bull run on the market. I'm still trying to figure it all out.

I read a post by the Financial Samurai where the author claims that 500k+ by 40 in the retirement account should be a realistic goal.

How Much Should I Have In My 401k At 40? - Financial Samurai

That's a humbling number. But I think it's still not out of reach. With a bit of strategy and a bit of market luck, I can probably reach the 500k by 40 milestone in my TSP. I would be happy if it happened, but not disappointed if it didn't.

If I were smart, I would have been in the far right column. I could have had $50k by 24. But I thought I was going to get blown up so I bought a brand new maxed out truck at age 22, drove it for a month, and then went to Iraq. That truck was gone by age 25 and I had nothing to show for the time in Iraq except some more ribbons to wear on my uniform and a prayer rug with my name stitched into it.

$750k by age 40....that's a lot. What could have been. Pay attention kids, start saving now.