Quoted from Pinbub:

I was an auto mechanic for 25 years untill I had a wrist injury. I took other jobs and by the time I was ok to return to work doing heavier work I was far behind the auto tech curve as far as technology is concearned. I then went to work fixing electric motors, gear boxes and pumps in the AG industry. After doing that for 10 years I was 52 years old so I started looking into a career I could still be doing in 10 years. I went into trucking. It was the worst move I've ever made. I'm 53 now and have been repeatedly lied to by my employer. What was supposed to be 2 weeks of training with an experienced driver turned into 1 day and then I was turned loose hauling chassis's with 2 20 foot containers each. Additionally I'll have to start going to the Oakland ports and put up with BS there.
My daughter makes a higher hourly wage managing a McDonald's than I do trucking. Don't believe the 80k to 110k a year trucking stories. The only guys making that money are going OTR for 3 weeks at a time. I'd be fine with that but I've been with my wife for 36 years and my wife wouldn't handle it well. Also the guys I've talked to making the big money have plenty of money, and no time to spend it or appreciate it.

Quoted from arcyallen:

I completely understand your reasoning, but consider this: What if you "quit tomorrow" and immediately started doing something you enjoyed, with less stress, and when you stopped working for the day still had energy? IF you have enough assets today to retire in 2-5 more years, then you probably have enough assets to make a change today making less money and working 4-7 years doing something you'd really enjoy. Once you're this close, your assets are likely doing the heavy lifting at this point.
Another way to look at it: If you knew you could quit tomorrow and be comfortable doing it, the work you're doing today might feel a lot more enjoyable. Fishing is fun when you want to - not so much when you have to.

Quoted from galore2112:

My dad got bile duct cancer at 63, died a few weeks after diagnosis in 2007.
My brother in law got glioblastoma at 54, died a few weeks after diagnosis last September.
My spouse was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer at 58 last August, doing well on chemo for the time being.
My point: Don’t ever work a job that you hate if you have an alternative that works out financially. You may not live long enough to enjoy whatever fruit you think you’ll be harvesting in the far future.