Wife & I are 40 making $600k each. Wife just gave her notice. I’m a year away from doing the same. In this field you have to be on the FIRE track from day 1.

there's no way you will have enough to retire in US, esp in you are still in 40s to 50s & more so if you have <$10M NW. agism in tech is real. landing tech jobs becomes exponentially harder once you are over 35, esp is you're PM/sales/mart. I end up becoming 1st desi to be documented overstayer, homeless, divorced in BA for 5 times, for total of 8 years between 1997-2010 during last 4 downturns. I became illegal dishwasher & cabbie, and missed my parents funeral cos I can't go back. most of my Desi cohort who remained in CA legally, after age of 35 became Costco fork lift technician, mall cop, AVIS car rental counter agent, ATT store salesperson & Walmart cashier - not after years of unfruitful job hunt. those who moved out of CA but remained in State-side moved to Gulf states to work as inshore & offshore oil/energy roughnecks and worked their way to be managers for <80K TC. some eventually moved to UAE, Kuwait & SArabia to become state oil company directors, but face more racism for no tax. many moved back to India & China to continue their tech career track in SW/HW, so they can be closer to their parents

WTF is this thread? Every single response is I have enough to retire. Are there no people with real stories on blind? I have NW far less than what's posted here. I am not earning big at this time as company I work for may not survive and I am 40+. What's the plan for people who never made big monies?

50s here and I’d been planning to get out for a few years. I was about to resign when I caught wind of impending layoffs last summer. I hung around a few more months, let management know I would be happy to take one for the team, and got the package in the fall. It’s been 6 months and I’m eating better, sleeping better, and feeling better. Investments are doing well, I’m rediscovering past hobbies and interests, reading, traveling, socializing, and just enjoying the gift of time. My advice for the younger cohorts is to plan and prepare for retirement by 50 even if you don’t intend to. Ageism is real, your BS tolerance is low, and a late career layoff can derail your financial security otherwise.

If you are in your 50s you should have enough to retire already if you worked in tech since your 20s. If not, you've screwed up during the biggest gold rush over the last 20+ years. From here on out, the over supply of people in tech and AI will make it difficult to make it big in tech. That does not mean it will be impossible to make big money in tech, it's just that the bar will be much higher.

The reality is that not everyone got a chance to work in big names with stock grants big bonuses roles. I’ve been very lucky to work on both sides for a decade each as an engineer, a big name with standard comp (no stock) and Faang with incredible comp (stock and bonuses). Early 50s, one kid finishing college and another ready to go. I don’t think i even have 2M in NW… which is ok, I am proud of my kids and time spent , house paid off and some small savings to live humble but happy.

I’m at 11M liquid NW close to 12M. Have a 3M paid off home. My yearly expenses are 150k. Kids out of the house and self sufficient. We are 54YO. At 62 we’ll get 100k in SS and pensions. Will inherit 50 to 100M.

I was laid off at 43. I accepted an offer from a small tech for 60% of the pay. The wlb was good enough allowing me to raise my children. When they were grown, I fought back into big tech at the age of 53 and have worked another 10 years. I have considered FIRE but I am glad that I did not because my calculation based on inflation was not accurate. Housing/stock both went up faster than inflation. I would advise people to take whichever opportunity at hand and not worry about immediate tc. Cash flow is the king. Not burning cash reserves allowed it to grow with the market.

I am early 40s and glad this happened now. I have a hefty retirement account so I was able to take a lower paying job to learn a new industry but will grow fast because of my life experience. The new industry is hard to learn (far from tech) and I am super lucky to have some amazing bosses (they are super young and eager and I can help them advance). My bosses can be directors and I am happy to get them there, I just want new experiences and to be valuable.

Why Leetcode monkeys on blind think 40s is old? I see tons of folks in tech in their 40s and above doing just fine.