What's wrong with this picture?  You're not in it!  You may never occupy this station in life until you get time on your side.  There are seven million millionaires in the U.S. today, many of whom are self-made millionaires.  They became millionaires by getting time on their side: making their money work hard for them over time, rather than allowing other people to benefit from their hard-earned dollars.  Every dollar is given a job and counts in wealth creation, and building wealth for the average person is more a function of time, than the amount of money you earn.  For instance, if you save just $1 a day from birth to retirement (age 65), assuming a 10% annual return, you would create $1 million dollars in wealth. To the contrary, if you spend $1 a day from birth to retirement, the opportunity cost is 1 million dollars in savings.  This negative wealth effect is exacerbated if you pay interest (incur debt) for each dollar in dissavings.

There is no particular merit in and of itself to become a "millionaire," except that it is the benchmark for financial independence for most and considered to be the achievement of "The American Dream." Given rising life expectancy and diminishing support you can expect from Social Security, elimination of pensions from employers, and rising healthcare costs, you will probably need about $1 million to adequately fund your retirement and/or achieve financial independence.  What is more, the less wealth you accumulate over time, the more difficult it becomes to build wealth for the average person, because you must take greater risks and/or save a larger percentage of your remaining lifetime income to make up for time lost.  One thing is very certain, you can't stop the clock from ticking towards retirement, and as the adage goes, "time flies."   

It does not take a whole lot of money to become financially independent; it just takes time and making your money work for YOU.  Many people cannot effectively do this alone, because it's too hard and time-consuming.  This is why many fail to get time on their side to build wealth and adequately fund their retirement.  Many of those who are near retirement have only saved an average of $60,000.  It may be too late for them to live a comfortable retirement.  It's not entirely their own fault.  They probably did not have the knowledge and/or time make the right decisions at the right time with their money in order to get time on their side and make every dollar count.