Ah, I think you missed my point. To me, Dr Teo's message is more on exploring "Thoughts of Life, Wealth, Success & Happiness", as the title of the video suggests. Ultimately, it's about finding out what truly matters to us (and what may hold us back). I believe life is much bigger than where we currently are/have experienced, right now. There's so much to explore. Being employed, somehow, restricts that freedom to explore.
I would say you and your wife are blessed enough, to have been together since Form 6, married early, and worked your way up steadily and safely to where you are right now, after thirty years of hard work together. It's a life that most people/couples would want to have.
I'll just share a bit more, on why your thread caught my interest.
Your thread reminds of the simple life I could have had, but I made a different choice. When I was first proposed to (after Form 6), I didn't accept that proposal. I went through so much in life after that and matured very fast... till, when it's time to settle down (pushed by my parents to), I found myself unable to date my male peers anymore.
I was around 25-27 y.o. back then, and I went out with... about 22 single men in their thirties (age 28-40). Among them are engineers (mechanical, O&G), managers (software development, app designs, logistics, real estate, finance), business owners (car parts supplies, water filtration systems, logistics), a scientist in manufacturing technology, a strategy director and others.
However, despite their age and profession, I felt I was dating... boys. I was physically in my mid-twenties, but emotionally and mentally, I was already in my late-forties or early-fifties. My best friends and colleagues were in their forties and fifties.
To cut the long story short, I am about to marry a middle-aged man. We first met when he was old, sick and unemployed, but strangely, I fell in love with him. I thought I was crazy, given the young successful men who pursued me, yet I fell for an "old uncle". Hilarious. Well, that's how life is— either a can of worms or a box of chocolates. It was love at first sight for him too. I liked his sense of humour, depth of knowledge and experience, and the fine qualities that I found missing among young men, such as chivalry, sense of duty and responsibility, and the love for history and literature. To him, he sees me as his equal. I feel he's just a few years older than me too. We joke and play a lot with each other; just don't feel the age gap at all.
When he pursued me relentlessly, it took me some time to consider, but eventually, I stayed true to my heart... because he's my first love and first man. He's in his mid-fifties; had a previous marriage and two young adult children. Yes, I will have stepchildren and my own children. He's still handsome with no wrinkles or age spots, and in good shape with firm skin and toned muscles, and high virility.
You know, some men just don't age, e.g. Keanu Reeves (55 y.o.), Robert Downey Jr (54 y.o.) and Brad Pitt (55 y.o.). My family and friends like him/ accept him too; they say I have fine taste and look forward to attending our wedding.
So, with a husband who's already worked his way to C-level and is financially established, my life is accelerated even much more. I'm academically intelligent, financially smart with strong business acumen, while he is also highly educated with decades of expertise and life/work/expatriate experiences. We both have discussed venturing into several businesses together, such as training and consultancy, agriculture, property investment, security and O&G-related. We'll also be doing our PhD together, with him majoring in law, while me in either entrepreneurship or instructional design; I haven't decided yet.
I'd say his life will be a semi-retired one, with me managing our businesses and finances, while he spends more time with our children and his grandchildren in the near future. In other words, he will be living the second half of his life with a young, beautiful and capable wife, and his newborn children and grandchildren. Lucky man, he says (and everyone else).
So yeah, I've just shared my future/retirement plan, and his too. Another refreshing (or perhaps, eye-opening) read for you.