25% is a huge amount. Yes, it adds up. Over time, you don't get me wrong. But you need to ask, should you do that much?
Everyone will die, despite great medical advances over the past century. Someone who lives past 5 and doesn't die in childbirth, or an accident - only got a couple years of life expectancy. You should be thinking of saving money as this is something we're going to spend in the future. The goal is not to get the most money on paper. The goal is to... Well, you figure out your own goals. I don't know the right answer for you, but to try and enjoy life with the money you make.
Alternatively, since we are all going to die, would you rather not spend fewer of your years slogging away at work? And would you rather not be able to give your children a financial springboard so that they don't need to struggle as much during their early career?
Possibly, but why would you be saving up to millions of dollars? I mean, if you save 25% until you're, say, 40, 45, and then retire, that's fine. But people are talking about saving 25% until they're worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.
And not all jobs are a slog. There are bad parts about every job, but there are a lot of jobs that people enjoy, at least on the good days. People also often find that they enjoy talking to other people and a job gives them lots of reasons to talk to other people.
Retiring could be good but there are also a lot of people who don't know how to keep their life busy and they end up dying of boredom not long after they retire.
The early retirees I know seem satisfied. None of them appear to be dying of boredom, either.
The mindset of people seeking early retirement is not compatible with the mindset of a person who wants to accumulate wealth endlessly; saving until you have enough is the whole point.
Everyone will die, despite great medical advances over the past century. Someone who lives past 5 and doesn't die in childbirth, or an accident - only got a couple years of life expectancy. You should be thinking of saving money as this is something we're going to spend in the future. The goal is not to get the most money on paper. The goal is to... Well, you figure out your own goals. I don't know the right answer for you, but to try and enjoy life with the money you make.