Agree with all your points. I'm eight years older than him with a house, a fantastic wife, a dog, loving family on both sides, my wife and I are professionals in the same field making more than the average, good retirement accounts, and we have hobbies. But life still happens: work, house repairs, chores, grocery shopping, auto maintenance, emergency vet visits, family issues, disagreements with each other, disagreements with others. When one of these things breaks down I cannot jump off the hamster wheel I'm on and go all hands on deck to address the issue. I still have to go to work, I still have to take care of the house and corresponding chores. I'm not naïve in thinking Scottie doesn't have any of these issues, but at age 29 he's been so successful he can jump off his hamster wheel at any time and address any single one of these issues without a single worry about the others. Problems at home? He can quit his job at any time (his words, not mine). Problems with family? Take whatever time off needed for however long you need and go handle it, his job (exemptions) will be waiting. Don't have enough time to juggle all the house chores and maintenance? Hire someone else to do it all. Most people have to handle all these things themselves, which takes time away from other pursuits and therefore makes maintaining those pursuits at a high level that much more difficult. I'd love to focus only on my family and my golf hobby, but I think as most of us know that's not real life. Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does buy time, and time buys peace of mind.
I'm really not trying to sound jaded or jealous at all and this is certainly not an indictment of what I perceive as my own personal shortcomings in this category. Scottie's outlook is an admirable one to have, but it's also easier to have given the position he is in. That said, I appreciate him saying it with such candor, and it further solidifies him as a really good guy out there. I'm happy success found someone like him.