Of the MIT/Stanford software engineers I have known a long time and know what's become of them: one (60-ish now) had a fairly lucrative late career segment doing web search at Yahoo and is now retired; one (same age) is still working, doing Big Data consulting; one (late 50s) was in a two-career couple with two or three kids and is now retired; another (mid 50s) made enough in the stock market and miscellaneous other ventures to semi-retire, though he still does a little consulting; another (56) is happily in business for himself selling iOS apps; and I (57) am still working as a tech lead for HP Fortify.
I think the lesson is, if you're careful with your money in your 30s and 40s, you won't necessarily have to work into your 50s if you don't want to. Alternatively, take good care of yourself and keep learning new stuff, and you can be productive well into your 50s and beyond. But if you don't do either of those things, you may have a problem.
I think the lesson is, if you're careful with your money in your 30s and 40s, you won't necessarily have to work into your 50s if you don't want to. Alternatively, take good care of yourself and keep learning new stuff, and you can be productive well into your 50s and beyond. But if you don't do either of those things, you may have a problem.