Pat - I'm a little younger than most guys here, but I 'retired' (actually left)from a career in Software Quality Assurance to go back to school and become an Occupational Therapist. I was lucky to have support from my wife, and financial freedom from the obligations (and joys, unfortunately) of having children.

Working in Software Quality Assurance, I often felt very unappreciated due to the nature of the job. At best, I would find software bugs that would delay shipment of the product, or for which developers would say "that won't happen...it's too risky to make that change...the customer won't mind...that will push the release date (as if it was my fault for finding the bug 'too late').

I often felt like a 'resentfully' hired 'cost center' rather than a valued employee helping the company to succeed - IMHO,such is the end product of extreme capitalism, and I don't believe that companies should make employees feel that way - either incidentally or intentionally.

That said, as an Occupational Therapist, I still feel like a ....resentfully hired cost center for which my employers' goal is ultimately to reduce cost or eliminate (IMHO, such is the effect of extreme capitalism).

But now I do have lots of job satisfaction inherent to the nature of the job - I'm helping children that primarily have developmental disabilities increase their participation and access to their education in school. Parents of these children are extremely appreciative, as well as teachers and the children themselves (not all children, but most).

I had to take a pretty big pay cut and loss of net worth to achieve this career change.
Money and financial independence is ABSOLUTELY first and foremost to any decision. That's why I did what I did for almost 20 years. But you'll probably learn that you may very well be able to happily survive on less money, once you decide to do it. (But like we spoke of in a different post - go on a music toy buying spree before you attempt to consider living on reduced income ; )


But what did I get for it ? The opportunity to feel value in my day-to-day job, the opportunity to enjoy greater portions of my day-to-day job, the chance to meet and collaborate with lots of new people instead of stay behind a computer in isolation all day, additional 'free' time to pursue my hobbies (music) and (virtually) meet all the great guys on this forum, the opportunity to reduce my commute time and use it more productively.

I am forever indebted to my wife, Silvia, for helping me discover, supporting, and enabling me to achieve this change. Thanks Silvia.