> In those five words, the manager managed to say so many things. First, the worker is deemed "old". Then, following from that, why can't they afford to quit? Why haven't they gone off to sail the world? What is their major malfunction which makes them unable to hit the jackpot? With all of the years they have put into this career of theirs, how have they managed to suck?

I'm closing in on 50, and work at a very decent FAANG company, and have been in software my whole life. I don't think I "suck", yet I'm nowhere close to being able to retire. I don't know where this idea comes from that software people, by virtue of their mere existence in the field, all are able to retire at 35 and go off to spend the rest of their life in Bali or something. Or they all start at $400K at 20 years old (you read this on HN a lot). Or they all win the startup lottery, exiting their unicorn with millions in stock option. These are the rare outlier cases that become famous. The rest of us plod along making pretty-decent-but-nowhere-near-neurosurgeon comp, and have the same fears about retirement or job loss that everyone else has. Most of us are perpetual I.C.'s (lowest on the totem pole) their entire careers, topping out at $100K-$150K or so, and if we're lucky, we occasionally job hop for a little pay bump. But we're not living like celebrities. The way some people talk, you'd think we're all one week away from "cashing out" and moving to Malibu.