Well, I don't know if you're male or female (I am the latter) but I'm in the same boat. I've made my decision. I've taken my pitiful retirement account out of the 401K plan and cashed it in. That'll be a (not very generous) cushion. Then I'm going to support myself as a massage therapist (I'm certified) and by gigging. I'm scared to death (no benefits, no insurance, etc.) but the date in my mind that I'm going to resign is October 1. I'm prepared to sell my house, if necessary, and move into a small apartment. My job, which everybody thinks is a good one - and it is well paid, has good benefits, etc. is just sucking away my soul. I leave frazzled and exhausted and depressed, and every day it's a struggle to drag myself in. One of the incidents that tipped the scales was this - take it for what it's worth. I called a small account that occasionally bought a pallet or so of merchandise from us, and asked for Mr. Chand. His wife, a very nice Indian woman, told me tearfully that he had had a heart attack two weeks ago and dropped dead right in the store. "And he was planning to retire in six months." Everything's a gamble and I could keep working at this job, being miserable, and then die before I ever got that "retirement". There's no security in life - I'm middle aged too and I'd rather seize the moment. Another thought, if you're going to do it and you're middle aged, you'd better do it now. There isn't that much time left to waste.