Stats: 33, lawyer making $200k. Married to spouse, making $130k. One awesome kid, about to start school. Net worth approximately $1.1 million. Annual spending something like $50k (would likely go down if we had more time to cook, clean, no need for work clothes, etc.). House to be paid off in 5 months. We've estimated that our FIRE amount is $1.25 million, but want a healthy cushion to help the kid with college costs, travel, unknown health calamities, etc.
Both of us have extremely demanding jobs that tend to have lots of "emergencies." We both are expected to check email and respond as needed on nights/weekends/vacations. I'm good at my job and have received a significant amount of support/opportunities/mentoring/sponsorship from the higher-ups. I enjoy some aspects of my job and certainly the money and "prestige" is nice. But I generally chafe at always having to jump according to someone else's needs (not a good trait in a service-based industry like law). And with both of us working these types of jobs, we're eating junk and not taking care of ourselves enough, and there's just more family stress than there needs to be.
Spouse supports me quitting when the house is paid off. Spouse is going to keep working, and will likely keep earning 6 figures until some undefined future early retirement date. But I don't have any clear path for what I would like to do after I step away from the law firm. I don't have any great hobby that will turn into a second "just for fun" career. (This may be a result of me having busted my hump in law school and at the firm--I forgot to make time to make myself interesting.) And with kid heading off to school, there won't be a need to have someone home all day. I have the vague goals to get in shape and volunteer in some capacity, but nothing is concrete.
So, do I quit because I can and because it would likely improve our quality of life--lower stress, healthier life, Spouse able to focus more on job as I take on more home responsibilities--even though I'm a bit worried I'll be at loose ends and may regret the decision? Or do I keep working, sock away some more money to contribute to our FI cushion, and keep trying to define what I'm going to do with my life post-job?
I know it's silly, but I keep thinking about how I would tell my law partners, and how they are going to think I'm crazy. These are people who make my net worth in a year. Yet they keep working long hours, traveling, and dealing with stress into their 60s. I guess because they love it? I cannot imagine how it all gets spent.