For those who retired and 'invested' wisely, did it really work out in the end?

Just curious and yes I know ppl will say just look up the trends of s&p and whatnot for past 30 years. But I wanted to hear from some anecdotes. Let's say you invested right when you started working or later in career or if you didn't have a stable job but just saved and day traded. How was the market the day you retited and started pulling from 401 and or IRAS Hsas, brokerage accounts, etc? If the market was complete garbage like today, how did you recover? I know there's rmds as well. I guess I'm just nervous. Plus like guess it depends if you have beneficiaries and want to leave money behind or use up everything you saved up. I'm 33, just wanted to hear. Tia! Can't post in r/retirement