Couldn't agree more and this is coming from someone with a similar background to the original poster.
If you plan on working for a company it is almost a requirement to have some form of four year degree these days, so lacking your GED or high school diploma will be a major blocker.
There are always exceptions to the rule, but the truth is that you are going to be working and grinding harder to prove your value than any of the other candidates with a degree no matter what your skill level is.
With that being said, I've been lucky enough to interview with many managers who didn't care about a degree and who gave me wonderful opportunities. I always have a nagging feeling though that my luck is eventually going to run out and not having a degree is really going to hurt me, especially as I move higher up the ladder.
I know many disagree with Malcom Gladwell, but he made a great point in his book "Outliers" on how many of the successful people we see today who didn't go to school or whatever benefited from other things around them. These are situations that not everyone has, so to look at a Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg and use them as a model of what can be done is somewhat risky. I'm not trying to be a downer or anything as I'm all about the underdog winning, but as I've become older I've realized that when you are the underdog the odds are stacked against you. You'll end up working 100x harder just to get to the same level as the others.
If you plan on working for yourself then disregard everything up above :)