Ten years ago, Gwen Merz, now 33, knew exactly what she wanted and what it took to get there: to retire early at age 35 with $635,000 to her name. At least, that’s what she thought she wanted.
She had just landed a job at a Fortune 100 company in Washington D.C. after graduating from college debt-free thanks to a scholarship and time spent serving in the military. Her clean slate allowed her to “just to go all in and start saving immediately,” she tells Fortune, inspired by the early FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) influencers like Mr. Money Mustache that she read about in college.
