Only about 1/3 of adults in the has completed an accredited bachelors degree. Those with an accredited bachelors degree earn in average $22,000 per year more than those with only a high school degree (https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/). Avoiding higher ed as a way to retire is bad advice in all but a very narrow set of circumstances (some of which @denniswilliams has noted above).