HaHaHaHaHaHa...ROFLMAO!!
In my twenties, TWICE I left jobs within weeks of at least some kind of vesting (How much? I'll never know.)
In my twenties, all my savings were in cash, because I wanted to buy a house. At least I actually did that. Bought in 1988 for $100k. Spent $6k fixing it up. Sold in 1996 for $115k. Big whoop. (I've done much, much better in all subsequent properties.)
When I was 31, I took a job with more than a 50% pay cut to chase a bucket list dream. Fortunately, they had a decent profit sharing and 401k program. I stayed the minimum seven years and then some to become fully vested, which cost me a lot of potential income. But the bucket list dream was awesome. (A cycling trip through Nova Scotia with Outward Bound. Yeah!)
At 42, I became self employed. The first few years, I put my (Sep?) IRA contributions in a fucking Money Market Account because I didn't know what to do with it.
I started earning better money, so I sought out the services of a financial planner! Then another one!! Finally, I found a good advisor and my investments took off. Still have them, which is a minority view around here, but it worked for me, finally.
I got to FIRE in Dec, 2012, at the ripe old age of 54.
Honey, if I can do this, anyone can. Just keep reading. This shit really, really works. I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams and being FIRE is indescribably awesome. Every fucking day.
+1M (hee) on the case study. You literally have nothing to lose.