There is a lot of pessimism here, and some of your estimates (such as taxes) may (or may not!) be a little off.. but achieving something well north of $2 million by 55 is very attainable based on an income of $250k/year. This is why early retirement blogs have grown in popularity in the last 10 years -- many of us in these kinds of situations are more interested in living frugally (I spend much less than $5k/month), saving and investing a huge percentage of income and then retiring after perhaps 10-15 years of work.