I want to mention that the person you reply to didn't seem to write it as a judgment of one's moral fortitude but just as an observation; I've observed the same in myself while acknowledging that it was indeed a tradeoff for having to live in a system built to push us towards making such tradeoffs (even more so in the US than where I live).
I'm now in the "dreamer" mode (I switch back and forth every few years, depending on circumstance & financial situation) and am enjoying running my own company despite paying myself 60% of what I used to earn (a few years ago, so would have probably be even a bigger difference today) and having a lot more stress as a business owner that has to worry about finances and payroll etc.
But I hope my career is still mostly ahead of me (I'm 39 years old) and fully expect at some point for the pendulum to swing back to "selling out" when the situation changes (and then maybe back again when it changes again!).
I actually know people in our profession (working actively as individual contributors) that still do very "in the trenches" development work in their 60s and enjoy what they're doing (and are very much in demand). I think even when accounting for agism if you're good and keep active/up to date/learning you can work as a developer your entire career.
I'm now in the "dreamer" mode (I switch back and forth every few years, depending on circumstance & financial situation) and am enjoying running my own company despite paying myself 60% of what I used to earn (a few years ago, so would have probably be even a bigger difference today) and having a lot more stress as a business owner that has to worry about finances and payroll etc.
But I hope my career is still mostly ahead of me (I'm 39 years old) and fully expect at some point for the pendulum to swing back to "selling out" when the situation changes (and then maybe back again when it changes again!).
I actually know people in our profession (working actively as individual contributors) that still do very "in the trenches" development work in their 60s and enjoy what they're doing (and are very much in demand). I think even when accounting for agism if you're good and keep active/up to date/learning you can work as a developer your entire career.