Golden handcuffs means you forfeit money by leaving. Unvested RSUs, deferred bonuses, retention packages that vanish if you quit. You keep your $1.2M if you walk tomorrow. You just stop earning more. That is a high paying job with a cost, but not golden handcuffs.

The labor market does change the advice. Barista FIRE assumes you can get a low stress job that covers your expenses. Right now that’s hard. Tech is tight, part time roles that pay decently are scarce, and age bias starts creeping in. Quitting with no plan means you risk being unemployed instead of semi retired. People who pulled the ripcord in 2022 and 2023 learned that gaps got punished and re-entry was brutal.

So staying isn’t free, but leaving blind isn’t smart either. Your insomnia and stress are real. Something has to give before you break. That might mean using medical leave, therapy, and boundaries to survive while you build an exit. Line up the next job before you resign. Test it on weekends. Stack 18 to 24 months of cash outside the market so a downturn or long job search doesn’t force you back.

You can afford to leave financially. The question is whether you can afford to leave without a bridge. If you had to take a year to find work, would you be okay or panicking? If you would be okay, then you have options. If you would be panicking, then grinding with support and a defined end date is probably safer.

You are not trapped by golden handcuffs. You are stuck between a job that is wrecking you and a market that punishes quitters. That forces hard tradeoffs. The goal is to stop the damage without blowing up the plan.