False so far, and I'm 55. I kick the rear end of fresh graduates. They can type a lot faster, turn out more lines of code per day. Great. I don't write the bugs that they write, so I don't have to take the time to find and fix them. I don't make the design mistakes that they make, so I don't have to fight the design flaws to get things done. They work harder; I get more done, and I get paid accordingly.

And if you think that the answer for "your brain stops working" is to go into management, all I can say is that I'm glad you're not my manager...

You are probably in 1% of lucky ones. Imagine you have a bad year (sickness, family issues etc.) and you don't have management that is used to you around (e.g. there is a reshuffling). How long would you manage to stay? You should put this into your equation. I also dislike being a manager but I am more capable manager than all managers I've been under (maybe I am just unlucky but I don't think so). We all know the best teams self-organize and don't need managers, yet all companies enforce some power structure around to keep control, and reward mainly members of that power structure.

> I also dislike being a manager but I am more capable manager than all managers I've been under (maybe I am just unlucky but I don't think so).

In my case, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be better than the ones I've been under (maybe I would be better than one or two, but not the majority). I'm also more likely to get fired as a manager, due to a tendency to say what I think.

If you're a better manager than the managers you've been under, you may be of more value to your company as a manager (even if you hate it). I may be selling myself short, but my value as a manager could be less than zero...

Software companies are about power structures more than they are about software.

Where I come from ppl your age get downsized and replaced by younger employees with less pay. The +50yo will never get a job but is still +15 years away from pension. At the end of tge day only the money matters. You can't pay rent on "job satisfaction". Neither can you eat it or retire on it.

In my experience, fresh graduates may (arguably) run faster, but they don't know which direction the finish line is.

> At some point your brain stops working

Yes, when you die.

Children are much better at learning new spoken languages, but by your logic no adult should even bother trying to learn a new spoken language.