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Older tech workers are tapping out early

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Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#21

Post by matrix87 »

My plan is to just stay in the game as long as possible and bag as much money as possible. Delay family formation (gen z) or buying property so that the money is liquid. Job hop as needed because of all of the consolidation and acquisitions that are happening right now.

If the whole industry implodes, I'll probably just go and get another degree or a PhD and try to pivot into an adjacent field.

But for right now, I think that staying in tech makes the most sense. The WSJ and these other bootlicker newspapers want people to be uneducated and unable to move abroad or escape the corporate hellscape this country is turning into. More money is more freedom from these managerial cunts who are stumbling over themselves to fuck up everything. I genuinely think that things will not positively change until the educated people start leaving the US en masse and shit up the whole US economy.

But I'm wondering if anyone here can chime in with smart ways to pivot where you can apply the same type of skillset that leads someone to do well in SWE. Is statistics a good route?

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#22

Post by doubled112 »

spl757 wrote: post #20

Car mechanics at dealerships are in shortage. You use a laptop more than a wrench these days, and they want people with tech experience now. If you are struggling to look for tech work, that's a tech-adjacent job market right now, at least here on the east coast of the US.

Yet, allegedly, half of mechanics want to quit.

https://www.motor1.com/news/706716/study-automotive-techs-qu...

The mechanics I know personally despise the model dealerships work under, where time is often an arbitrary number with no connection to reality, but it does decide your paycheque.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#23

Post by fred_is_fred »

JohnFen wrote: post #15
fred_is_fred wrote: post #10

Tech workers are lucky that for many of us this is possible. You don't see "older nurses are tapping out early" because financially they can't.

> You don't see "older nurses are tapping out early" because financially they can't. In the US, anyway, you do see that. Experienced nurses make money comparable to what experienced devs make, and as the doctor and nurse shortage worsens, making life harder for those that remain, more of them are deciding to leave early.

This is what I see for my state: "The average salary for a Registered Nurse in Colorado with 25 years of experience ranges from $115,000 to over $140,000 annually".

A dev with the same experience I think is at least 50% more than this.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#24

Post by ErroneousBosh »

throwfaraway4 wrote: post #11
ErroneousBosh wrote: post #8

I'm kind of at this point. I'm 52, I have a child, I am not working on things I want to work on, and the place I work for is going in a direction that's taking my job further away from things I want to work on. So recently I thought, fuck it, I'll go back to fixing tractors. The money's okay, and people are *really really grateful* when you drive out to the middle of their field at 11pm to weld some irreplaceable bro…

Not fixing tractors myself, but there's something really satisfying about working with your hands and being outside with a desk job. Once I hit my forties my back and eyesight started deteriorating and I could tell I felt much better on the weekends from being more physically active.

I haven't made the move yet, but I used to do it.

Growing up and living in a rural area fosters The Hacker Nature like nothing else. If you don't open up the broken thing and repair it, then guess what? It will remain broken until you do, and right now it's sunny and there's a breeze. If you leave it just now, you'll just have to walk home, and walk back out to it tomorrow, when it will be raining and you'll get bitten by midges, and it'll all be a much more miserable experience.

Not so fun in January and 140mph winds when you're trying to stick weld a broken barn door hinge.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#25

Post by throwfaraway4 »

DANmode wrote: post #16
throwfaraway4 wrote: post #7

I'll be hanging up my hat (mid 40s) in a few months after 20+ years working as an engineer. The culmination of having our second child, corporate politics, and the hustle of it all (false urgency/deadlines) led me to take a hard look at what we wanted and our finances. We were fortunate to live below our means and save during our careers and move to a lower COL state prior to COVID. Obviously a lot of the reasons rel…

Well-considered as much as fortunate, I’m sure?

I think doing your best work increases your surface area to get lucky for sure. That and a willingness to take a risk landed me in big tech to make good money. Delayed gratification and not being focused on material things allowed for financial independence.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#26

Post by znpy »

futuraperdita wrote: post #2

I’m not sure why this is interesting. Wealthy people often retire early, and if you’ve spent three decades at Microsoft, you likely could have retired a very long time ago.

> Wealthy people often retire early, and if you’ve spent three decades at Microsoft

Eh, it really depends on whether your wealth has creeped into your lifestyle, as well as if you have a family and have set roots into an expensive city.

I live a decently frugal life and would not mind much going back to eating beans+rice on even days and rice+beans on the odd ones, but a lot of people get into very expensive habits and interests as soon as they start earning a bit more.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#27

Post by fragmede »

znpy wrote: post #26
futuraperdita wrote: post #2

I’m not sure why this is interesting. Wealthy people often retire early, and if you’ve spent three decades at Microsoft, you likely could have retired a very long time ago.

> Wealthy people often retire early, and if you’ve spent three decades at Microsoft Eh, it really depends on whether your wealth has creeped into your lifestyle, as well as if you have a family and have set roots into an expensive city. I live a decently frugal life and would not mind much going back to eating beans+rice on even days and rice+beans on the odd ones, but a lot of people get into very expensive habits a…

The hedonic treadmill as well documented. If you can't help yourself by flying privates and having a yacht, I'm sorry, but that's on you. If you need to work more, you need to work more but with stock price appreciation, you may not need to go back quite to rice and beans level, just don't develop a habit for eating at Michelin star, restaurants.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#28

Post by znpy »

matrix87 wrote: post #21

My plan is to just stay in the game as long as possible and bag as much money as possible. Delay family formation (gen z) or buying property so that the money is liquid. Job hop as needed because of all of the consolidation and acquisitions that are happening right now. If the whole industry implodes, I'll probably just go and get another degree or a PhD and try to pivot into an adjacent field. But for right now, I t…

> Delay family formation (gen z)

Millennial here, I've mostly given up on that front. I won't get into details, but trust me: money definitely helps but it's not the deciding factor (or even the main risk factor).

> My plan is to just stay in the game as long as possible and bag as much money as possible.

but yeah overall my plan is pretty much the same.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#29

Post by JohnFen »

fred_is_fred wrote: post #23
JohnFen wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You don't see "older nurses are tapping out early" because financially they can't. In the US, anyway, you do see that. Experienced nurses make money comparable to what experienced devs make, and as the doctor and nurse shortage worsens, making life harder for those that remain, more of them are deciding to leave early.

This is what I see for my state: "The average salary for a Registered Nurse in Colorado with 25 years of experience ranges from $115,000 to over $140,000 annually". A dev with the same experience I think is at least 50% more than this.

I suppose that I should have added "in my state" to my comment about comparable wages. I can't speak to any other regions.

Re: Older tech workers are tapping out early

#30

Post by mindcrash »

46, and due to extreme mental health problems catalyzed by my previous employer I have been on disability benefits - or as I like to call it "early retirement" - since about a year.

Not planning, and due to these circumstances likely even able, to get to work in tech (or any other workplace) ever again.

So there are more ways than one to tap out.

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