My dad, he was in the air force for 23 years made a significant amount of money on investments during that time. Retired at 45. Decided to work for a old friend and colleague of his from the airforce so he wouldnt get bored. Its a small but highly utilized space and misslies operations organization. The company got a contract with Vandenberg Air Force Base to do all civilian work for the west coast ICBM and rocket launches. He is in charge of the entire western range. The eastern Range is Cape Canaveral (shuttle launches and some titans and deltas) western is minute men, interceptors, and ICBMs with a few deltas, titans, and pegasus'. He makes six figures on top of Colonel retirement and all the money from his investments. He came from an air force family as well and my gramps (my dad's dad) came from an NYPD officer. We didn't come from money.
Not to mention my dad was a huge part of my life, was home for dinner every night, is still with my mom and he always spent time with us. He is the man and super successful.