Route A - I'm 50, I am writing code and closing jira tickets, the permanent IC at big/tech corp. Intellectually interesting, I make a mass of money, massive waste of capabilities and social obligations. I'm a highly paid brainteaser solver, and that's what my life's efforts came to.
Route B - I'm 50, I've shifted into EM, PM. I'm making a ton of cash, I'm on the right side of layoffs. It's interesting to bring products to market or pushing for CTO, but I'm hopping from ground breaking product to ground breaking product to.... can it all be ground breaking, really, when tech is the norm? Is that the end of my path?
What joins both routes is a path to significnat financial stability and family life. For the rest of the plebs on the ground watching tech jobs (/s but let's be real, this industry is so relatively privileged), we and our levels.fyi are making stupid, stupid money with a great quality of life that doesn't exist in similar career paths that make similar money.
With that anchor (a lot of money, a lot of family), that's my view of what my way out is, as in what is the final "what's next."
1) Lean into family. I can actually make all those baseball games and cook dinner at home. I have this hybrid model of the 1800's family homestead but with a lot better income. A lot of cool exploration in that direction is there that people go their whole lives foregoing to make the money to pay for that environment for their spouses and kids, but not themselves until retirement. Say what you want about days of yore, but one constant is compelling family models.
2) If you're careful for 10 years, you can buy your freedom to do whatever you want without financial destruction. Pay for your kids' college, buy a storefront and related equipment without a ton of debt, have $ net worth hidden away, and go open a bakery without much financial risk. Or move abroad. Or work on open source because you love tech... I'm not talking about FI/RE, but more about living a $150k/yr lifestyle on a $60k/yr income which is what all the cool jobs seem to pay. Totally achievable with tech income and planning. 3) Lean into a bit of spirituality. Especially working in tech, there isn't much provided room to consider how to live a good life beyond the bounds of strict rationality. Many people don't have the room because they're trying to hustle towards fractions of (1) and (2) in their life because they don't work in tech. IMO, that pure rationality not all that's out there. Humans have had a spiritual component in their life for centuries. Today's dynamic is an aberration, not the norm. Sure, churches did their fare share to drive away churchgoers. But what they provide is a necessary part of human existence that western life, capitalism, and general "freedom from" mindsets aren't helping answer - community, doing something without a profit motive/generosity, volunteering, ethical structure that isn't always "well its relative you see." If Jesus isn't your thing, well its not mine either. But if you look inside and around and feel like maybe something is missing, there is some there-there if you start looking in this direction. Replace your church with the local non-profit maybe. Honorable mention) There are base human brain-tickling impulses. Competition, love, fitness, family etc. For example, private sector can be rewarding if you're competitive - you can fully embrace that impulse, and keep competing/winning your whole life. I'm skeptical that there isn't some intrinsic value in following what that tickling impulse is for you, but you have to know yourself. Hope that helps!