We all have to make a living, and it is difficult to borrow money without a verifiable source of income. But times have changed, and for the most part working for one company for 30 years until you retire is not a realistic goal (unless you are working in a government job).
You can work for yourself and control your future, or you can work for a corporation and hope that the job, and your 401K are there when you need them. As you must work to make a living, I will suggest another way of looking at your working career, one that I have used for the last 30 plus years.
Instead of working for a living, try working only where the experience will help you reach your long-term goals. Think of your place of employment as if it were a University. When you are no longer learning new things, you move on. You no longer care about pay raises or vacation time.
You are working for the experience, and to be the best you can possibly be at the job. You are working for you, not for the employer. If you do this diligently, you will see a change in your attitude and your interaction with all the people you work with will be greatly enhanced. Your employers and your fellow employees attitude towards you will change. After a few months of implementing this new outlook, your big problem will be, turning down the pay raises and promotions, because they do not fit in to your long term plan.
Formulate a financial plan of where you want to be in the next five to ten years. What path Towards Wealth have you chosen? Do you want to be a Landlord? Importer? Internet retailer? Corporate executive? A manufacturer? Put the plan in a written format with a lot of detail. For example: If you love to cook and would like to own an Italian restaurant in Dallas, Texas. Plan this venture down to the decor. The details you write down will tell you what you need to know in order to achieve the goal.
Your plan will tell you what you need to do. In the case of the Italian restaurant, you need to become a chef or a very good Italian cook (or learn how to hire a good one). You will need to know restaurant bookkeeping, and have business management skills. You will need to learn how to decorate the restaurant to attract the type of customers you wish to serve. You will need to learn the best way to layout the floor plan of your restaurant in order to maximize revenue. Since you wish to start the business in Dallas, Texas then Dallas, Texas is where you should be living. So get a job in the nicest Italian restaurant in Dallas, and work in all the different related job areas that you can. Do anything you can from washing dishes to managing the restaurant. Anytime the business people you are working for have you stuck in a job you have mastered and you feel trapped, quit and move to another establishment. Be the best employee they ever had because you are really working for you, and you deserve it. If you do this diligently, within two or three years you will be managing any place you go to work for. If you are not, why are you still there? In your spare time take business classes at the local College and read as many books as you can about the restaurant business.
While you are working in these restaurants you will meet suppliers, cooks, waitresses, bankers, investors etc. lots of contacts that will help you when the time comes for you to strike out on your own.
Key Idea: Save up enough money so that you can live for three months without working. That nest egg will give you the freedom to quit any job anytime you need to. Once you begin to look at a job as a means towards accomplishing your goals and you have the freedom, (because of your savings) to quit a job at anytime it is not helping you reach your goal, you will find that a new way of looking at your job will take over and work will become more enjoyable.
This plan will work no matter what field you wish to enter, unless the field you choose has a college degree requirement.
Whenever it is possible, work for a monthly salary or on commission. If you are a person who likes getting paid by the hour, STOP! You are not rich material. I do not want or care to hear all the reasons you like being paid by the hour. They are all self-defeating. If being rich is your passion, Ask yourself this? Of all the people you know personally, or publicly, that are very well off (rich), or even well known people, how many get paid by the hour? I bet the answer is NONE!
There is nothing wrong with being an employee. If being an employee is your desire, just get the best job you can with the most benefits that suits your lifestyle and save every penny you can in a 401K. Cross your fingers and hope that nothing goes wrong. Tens of millions of people are doing this every day and most will do just fine.