Jon Bon, it might also be a life perspective difference, along with risk tolerance.
If I had $500k in debt, a property with $1.2 million in equity, and a $150k/year job, I'd be FIRE in notime - sell the property, pay off the debt/invest the rest, save for a few years (if needed, we don't know much about OP's savings, if any) and boom, done.
My feeling is that living on $40k a year and doing cheap travel and inexpensive hobbies and volunteering is not OP's goal, though, and my hunch is that his/her savings rate hovers around zero.
I could be wrong.
-W