Goodness. No offense, friends, but this is a pretty depressing thread. One of my own ongoing struggles has been grappling with a feeling that I have massively underachieved in my professional career, but despite all of that, I have never felt like I am limping through a firestorm of stress towards something I hope will finally let me really live.
I have always disliked "working." My current job is probably the least unpleasant I've ever had in that regard, which has greatly increased my overall happiness. But there is so much more to life than the hamster wheel. If your working years are damaging you that badly, doing whatever it takes to escape, including delaying FIRE, is 100% worth it, imo.
It is depressing that so many are left in this situation at work. However, I find it uplifting that others have been in a similar situation and have almost uniformly found ways to claw back their health and willpower, in due time. And I am absolutely trying to get to FIRE ASAP.
As the OP, should have stated that I'm somewhere between 5 mos. to 22 mos. (absolute worst case) before FIRE. However, more and more lately, I can't see myself making it past the 5 mos. mark on that spectrum unless something significant changes in my work responsibilities. And secretly (although maybe I shouldn't be secretive about it), I'm crossing my fingers for something to happen that would result in a severance. At the 5 mos. mark, thinking I might start acting like Peter from Office Space (minus the embezzling).
In about 2 months I would just ask if it was possible to be fired with some sort of severance package. At that moment you only need about 2 months of severance to get past the 5 month mark.
Inform yourself: have others in the past done that at your company and what did they get?
What if you would go on medical leave for burn out; what do you get then? How much would that cost the company?
The burn out would be my reason to go and negotiate some type of severance package. Do not tell them you have (or are very close) to achieving financial freedom. Just tell them you are buckling under the stress of the job and see if it is possible to get severance, another position for a few months, medical leave … something to bridge the gap. You have FU-money, inform yourself and use it! But I agree with other commenters, 22 more months of this isn’t worth it since you already have a big stash.
The finish line is in your sights! And whatever happens now it doesn’t really matter anymore.
- Continue working full time at hell job and you cross it in 5 months to 22 months
- Get severance paid out: great, you cross it without having to actually work those last months
- Get kicked out and not getting any money at all (unlikely scenario): so what. Take the time to get your energy and willpower back and then look around
for something you will actually enjoy doing (or at the very least find tolerable) and do that for a few years until the stash is at the level you want and cross
the finish line then.
Given those posibilities and given the fact that even the worst possible scenario wouldn't actually be that bad: start informing yourself, take whatever you have left of holiday time and after that go and engineer your exit. You have done the heavy lifting, you have put in your dues. You have a big stash. It’s no longer worth it!