"I wish I knew that retirement isn't the goal, having more time is," Grant Sabatier, who retired at age 30 with $1.25 million, told Business Insider.
"And that retirement can really be anything you want it to be. You need to define what it means to you, not society or your parents. To me, early retirement simply meant having enough money so that I didn't have to worry about money and could finally follow my passions and find new passions."
"Also, I wish I had known how much I was going to change," Sabatier, author of the book "Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need" and the blog Millennial Money, added. "I spent five years and three months pretty much working non-stop to reach financial independence, and once I got there at the age of 30 and could retire early, I realized that I had changed a lot since I started — meaning my dreams, goals, and the things I liked to do were different than at [age] 24."
"Do the best you can and remember today is all you really have. So enjoy it, while making sure to still invest in your future self. Money only matters if it helps you live a life you love."