I've been reading this thread for a while, and I figure it's time to make a contribution.
Last year, I was having a conversation with one of my coworkers (~45 years old) and a fresh-out-of-school guy (~23 yo) from another organization that we were working a project with. We were talking about jobs, finances, etc, and the young guy told us a story about a mandatory advising meeting he had in college where the advisor asked about what he really wanted from his career, and he told the advisor that he didn't care that much, and would love to be retired by the time he's 35.
My coworker informed him that he was SOL. People of our generations (where defined benefit plans are going away and social security's future is uncertain) will probably just never retire. This is coming from a guy who makes about $140k/year, with generous benefits, who commutes about 30 miles per day, has bought then sold multiple boats, and probably makes tons of other terrible spending decisions I don't know about.
I don't make a habit of talking about FIRE at work, but I told both of them at the time that that was bullshit, and while privately talking to the young guy later, told him to check out MMM.