Save 50% of your gross salary, invest in index funds, and be patient. You can speed up the process via geo-arbitrage, climbing the career ladder without lifestyle creep, working at a FAANG, being more frugal, or side hustles. Search for FIRE for more details.

It’s not easy by any stretch.

For some definitions of wealth, sure. I think the minimum definition is that you are freed from at least some need to labor. Clearly there’s a wealth point at which you need to capture excess value from the labor of others.

Exploited? Working for a living is called being an adult. The inverse of which is sticking your hand out and demanding that everyone carry you through adult life. People who agree to work for someone else are, in no way, being exploited. You have a choice to be a bum, as much as you have a choice where to work. And your options are greater when you're not a bum and have marketable skills that employers are willing pay for. Furthermore, if you're not a bum and you acquire skills, you can start your own business and do extremely well for yourself, and support dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of families if your business requires employees. I'm interested in discovering where you learned that successful business owners are "exploiting" people who willingly work for them.

Absolutely. I’m not a fan of the overly broad definition of exploitation meaning “anyone who has a job.” Clearly voluntarily selling your labour for money isn’t exploitation. Save your money and live off the interest.