My in-laws -- father-in-law is first-gen child of immigrants from the Baltic region, mother-in-law made her way to America from South America in her 20's, with almost no money and only one friend in the States. He a laborer, she an LPN after putting herself through school and learning English. Raised my wife, an only child, and as such parents are wont to do, indulged her quite a bit -- new car for H.S. graduation, new car for college graduation, paid for 5 years of college, bailed the wife out of $25k credit card debt (she has since changed her ways dramatically), and kicked in $25K for our wedding. Both really love to travel and hoped to do a lot of it when they retired. Both retired at 65, she with two small pensions from the two jobs she worked, he with a modest lump sum. He was always a great saver, been mortgage free for decades, but his only investments were and are in CDs. They got to travel a bit for the first 5 years of retirement, and then, after 70, the health problems started to kick in. And they've basically been spending their time in doctor's offices ever since (i.e., the past 8 years or so). My FIL likes to say, "Yeah, the 'Golden Years,' when you spend all your gold on medical care." They haven't traveled since they turned 70, and while they are okay money-wise with SS, the small pensions and some savings, the savings have taken a serious hit in the low-interest environment that's prevailed since 2008. They know of my plans to reach FIRE early and travel as much as possible, and my MIL says, "You are smart, yes, do it while you're young." FIL says he'd have called it quits sooner if he'd known what lie ahead. Both have steeled my resolve to FIRE, though somehow their situation has not really motivated my wife to do the same (though she is now maxing her 401k and saving pretty diligently, she doesn't really speak of quitting the rat race early like I constantly do!).