This 39-Year-Old Saves 75% of Every Paycheck and Is Almost Ready to Retire. Here’s How She Does It

Just five years ago, Bianca DiValerio was struggling through a divorce and the last of three short sales that nearly wiped her savings out during the financial crisis. Today the Chicago flight attendant, 39, projects she’ll reach financial independence within a year—that is, she calculates she will have saved enough so she won’t need to work for the rest of her life.

“I am in disbelief that I am where I am,” says DiValerio.