Hi Hoosier Daddy,
I am a fellow Accountant and I know how you feel. Like you, I was much more efficient than my coworkers, finishing my work much faster than anyone in the department. My situation was a bit different, because my company tracked our billable hours and thus as I got more efficient, I simply got handed more work since I wasn't "busy enough". I'm a few years older than you, so allow me to share my career's experience and realizations in the hopes that it helps set you on the right path. After graduation at 22, I worked at a CPA firm for 4.5 years, auditing casinos. It was fun at first, but eventually as I moved up to more of a reviewer role I got bored. During this time, I purchased several rental properties (in NV). I then relocated to Southern CA, where I worked for a horrible company with oppressive management, but had a cool position where I got to travel and audit. I constantly looked for another position, and found one working for the current real estate investment management firm I work for now. Like you, I got bored with the position after a couple of years.
What I did might be applicable and useful to you. I was getting fed up and decided to take 3 months this year to travel Europe, including 2 months in Spain to improve my Spanish. I had a heart to heart talk with my boss, letting her know what was working for me in the position and what was not. I planned to have that be my "I'm giving notice" speech. What I did instead, however, was offer to continue to support the company, but part-time and 100% remotely. I got lucky in that three of my coworkers will be out later this year on maternity leave, so timing worked in my favor. Long story short, the company went for it, so now I am working about 25 hours per week, remotely, being paid as an independent contractor through a sole proprietorship I set up. Mind you, the company I work for would be the last company in the world I would expect to have gone for something like this. Totally controlling and distrusting management, IT department monitoring everything you do, etc. But they still went for it.
I have a question for you: Why are you so interested in programming - is this a genuine interest in the work or are you solely interested in it because there are more opportunities to work remotely?
My feeling is that you sound very smart and ambitious. What I would suggest instead of jumping into something you don't know much about is to stick with your core competency of accounting. Start your own business. It is easier than it sounds. Make you current company your first client. I would talk to your boss about working remotely and make it clear that you need to leave regardless but were hoping to continue to support the company. Offer to be an independent contractor to minimize their risk (in their minds, they could be worried about you taking advantage of the situation and overbilling them; however, an independent contractor arrangement will make it much easier for them to let you go in the event they don't think you are working out). This will open up your world and make you passionate about what you do again, trust me. This is also favorable for you tax-wise, as there are better retirement savings options as a self-employed individual and also some of your personal expenses will now be partially tax-deductible (home office, monthly cell phone charges and wireless internet fees can now be 50% written off for business use, any new computing equipment purchased can now be 50% written off for business use, can write off business mileage, etc.).
Another alternative suggestion I have for you is to stay employed but save up and buy rental property. Learning about all the nuances of real estate investing and property management will stimulate you in ways you can't even imagine. If the idea repulses you, then stick to stocks... but according to my experience, real estate investing offers by far the best return if the correct properties are purchased and you run it like a business. You sound like the kind of person that would throw yourself into learning what you need to and do well with it. Buy a few of these, and suddenly you have passive income (once you outsource the management to a management company), which will allow you greater freedom to travel and give you more leverage to get what you want from your employer.
Just my two cents.
SoCalCPA