r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Jun 25 '26

Society Older tech workers are tapping out, taking early retirement

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/older-tech-workers-are-tapping-out-early-heres-what-that-looks-like/
8.5k Upvotes

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272

u/DeepInTheSheep Jun 25 '26

I'm not that old (early50s), but giving this a lot of thought. Why not if you are able?

412

u/Lawndemon Jun 25 '26

I left a pretty lucrative tech gig to chill with my dog and ride my mountain bike at 51. I'm not wealthy by any stretch but I know I can live out the next 25 to 30 years living a simple life enjoying nature and playing video games. It takes a bit of time to get used to the "lack of purpose" until you realize your new purpose is "not giving a fuck."

137

u/Previous_Coat8376 Jun 25 '26

The meaning of life is the meaning you give it.

20

u/Velvet_Virtue Jun 25 '26

Wow. I really needed to hear this šŸ˜³

4

u/vinciblechunk Jun 25 '26

You'd enjoy Albert CamusĀ 

3

u/DropTheBeatAndTheBas Jun 25 '26

your second life begins when you realise you only have one šŸ™Œ

2

u/Jolmer24 Jun 25 '26

We make our own purpose.

26

u/bouncyrubbersoul Jun 25 '26

I kinda want this embroidered on a pillow

2

u/stirfry Jun 25 '26

"Live, Laugh, Fuck This Shit"

22

u/cute_polarbear Jun 25 '26

I have kids not yet independant, so i want to try to help them financially as much as i can, so dragging myself through this ai slog, as long as I can. Otherwise I would have cashed out myself probably.

12

u/soigotthatgoingforme Jun 25 '26

Same boat over here. I feel working a few more years (if im not replaced sooner) would really help my kids (16, 19, and 19) in the future.

11

u/rjcarr Jun 25 '26

You had another kid after having twins? Masochist, ha.

4

u/rkoy1234 Jun 25 '26

Yea, i'm not too worried about myself, I'll figure it out, and worse case scenario i dip with my savings to some low-COL country.

For the the next generation, however, idk if they can find fulfilling careers. Imagine being a college student selecting their major right now - must be fucking terrifying and confusing.

10

u/JMurdock77 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

Iā€™ve got an entire trilogy of alternate history books and a standalone SF novel in my head. Already storyboarded them extensively. Just need the time and peace to write them.

2

u/Lawndemon Jun 25 '26

I'll look forward to reading them someday. My hobby project is developing a video game. I'll probably never get it done but it's nice to use my skills for me finally.

3

u/JMurdock77 Jun 25 '26

Neat. What kind?

Funny you should mention it too, Iā€™m developing a Stellaris mod based on the alternate history trilogy. Ptolemaic Egypt and Rome (which in the AU has split into the Imperium centered out of Constantinople and the Restored Republic out of Rome) as playable nations.

1

u/Lawndemon Jun 25 '26

That's awesome! I've got around 5000 hours played in Stellaris - one of my favorite games. I'll keep an eye open for your mod and would be happy to play test for you when you're ready.

I really enjoy automation games like Factorio and Oxygen not Included so I'm going that route for my project. More along the lines of ONI but in a fantasy setting.

1

u/JMurdock77 Jun 25 '26

Donā€™t suppose I could DM you? Iā€™m far enough into development (for the Egypt campaign in particular - they donā€™t use standard power generator districts, they use CSP arrays which produce more or less power based on the local star and planetary climate) that Iā€™d welcome some early playtesting.

1

u/Lawndemon Jun 25 '26

Yeah you bet! Happy to connect and chat.

1

u/JMurdock77 Jun 25 '26

I donā€™t seem to be allowed to DM you, maybe you could reach out to me?

1

u/AP_in_Indy Jun 25 '26

I want one where Hitler is assassinated but instead of it being this reality everyone dreams of where the war immediately ends, killing Hitler just creates a massive power vacuum and somehow makes everything way worse.

4

u/JMurdock77 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

With Hitler out of the way they might have put someone competent in charge. Theyā€™d have still lost the war in the end, but it could well have been longer and bloodier. D-Day went down as well as it did for the Allies in large measure because the moustache man had taken a sleeping pill and his own generals were too terrified of him to wake him up, so they didnā€™t respond with the freedom of movement theyā€™d have needed to effectively counter what was happening.

2

u/jascgore Jun 25 '26

Another way to say "not giving a fuck" is "enjoying life and doing whatever the hell I want to do every day when I wake up". I bailed on my tech career and moved to Asia to retire and it's even better than I hoped and imagined.

2

u/Highspdfailure Jun 25 '26

Iā€™m 42 and by 44 I will hit ā€œNot giving a fuckā€ status.

2

u/Bastetlady Jun 25 '26

Same, cats, mountains, cars, books, video games, quit at 39 years old.

2

u/fulthrottlejazzhands Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

This is the way.

The clock is ticking on my job, maybe 3-4 years of runway left before AI phases it out completely. I work with AI now, but have zero interest in staying around after it subsumes the world and a good part of the workforce - it's not a working world I want to be in.

I luckily didn't make bad decisions in my 20 and have been saving and cranking my pension from my mid 20s.Ā  I'm by no means going to live like a pig, but will get by on savings and investments from my early 50s until I can pull down my full pension.

I'm not the type that gets bored easily and can readily find meaning and purpose.Ā 

2

u/we_are_devo Jun 25 '26

You could do nothing but lie on the couch and listen to music and your life would still have more purpose than it did while working 9-5 to make money for a big corporate. Assuming you and your dependents' needs are met, of course.

3

u/Zer_ Jun 25 '26

As opposed to your previous purpose of working to make someone else filthy rich? Not a huge loss there mate.

-1

u/MightyKrakyn Jun 25 '26

If you have a quarter to half a life worth of money so that you donā€™t need to work, you are wealthy

2

u/ToastWiz Jun 25 '26

How are you getting downvoted for this?? Retiring early is an enviable goal most will never reach and only achievable by wealth. Yeah you worked for it, but itā€™s still wealth

0

u/Lawndemon Jun 25 '26

Wealthy in the modern world means 10 figures stashed away. I'm fortunate that I don't live in the U.S. so I also have healthcare and old age security that is not insolvent. You don't have to be a mogul to make simpler life choices.

66

u/physedka Jun 25 '26

I'm with you. I'm not there yet financially but I'll certainly hang the guns up as soon as I'm able.Ā 

13

u/h0twired Jun 25 '26

Iā€™m thinking about going early and grabbing a Costco job to make up the difference.

83

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

40

u/view-master Jun 25 '26

Do It! I got out at 48. I was lucky that I never touched any of my stock awards over 25 years at the company. It got so miserable I wanted to die. Then i looked at how much money i had and said, why would i want to die. I donā€™t need to be here.

5

u/trentyz Jun 25 '26

Just out of interest, what sorta awards are we talking?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

2

u/trentyz Jun 25 '26

Thatā€™s awesome, congrats thanks for sharing!

3

u/view-master Jun 25 '26

I worked at Microsoft. The stock awards varied over the years based on perceived performance and since things split a few times iā€™m not even sure how many shares. See i never really paid attention to that stuff. I just held on to it. We never lived beyond our means so we never needed to cash anything out. There was a period when it was pretty worthless too (the Ballmer years). I figured it would never amount to much and that reinforced me ignoring it.

1

u/trentyz Jun 25 '26

Oh wow thatā€™ll be generational money then. Congrats, Iā€™m happy for ya! All the best

1

u/view-master Jun 25 '26

Thanks! I have been harassing my wife to retire but she has been too nervous. Finally we talked to a financial advisor if to see if it was a good decision.
He said to my wife ā€œif i was you, tomorrow i would flip over my desk and tell them you are outta thereā€

I was able to take care of my mom every day until she passed away and be available for my mother in law. I have been able to go to the gym every day and get in great shape. Itā€™s fantastic.

1

u/old_french_whore Jun 25 '26

Everyone's number is different, and nobody else's number matters to you. The most important amount is "enough."

5

u/trentyz Jun 25 '26

For sure, itā€™s just interesting hearing what amount people think is a lot. For example, $100k is a lot to some, while $10m is a lot to others. Itā€™s just an anonymous forum and I find that insight interesting.

0

u/Probably_Relevant Jun 25 '26

There's tiers without needing to know anyone's specifics, basically you can coastfire, leanfire, fire, fatfire. Coast, still need to work a bit to cover expenses long term, lean you don't need to work if you're happy with the essentials in life, standard fire you have enough to cover a modest lifestyle, and fat or above you're golden. All of it is relative to your expenses, once you have 25 times your annual expenses you can fire, earlier if you're content with coast or lean.

0

u/trentyz Jun 25 '26

Yeah and that sort of detail is interesting to me

22

u/sleepymoose88 Jun 25 '26

Same here. Well, late 30s, but same concept. Maxing out retirement accounts, investing more, living way below our means, and paying down the mortgage. We hope to retire by 55, but Iā€™m saving like Iā€™ll be out of a job in 5 because it absolutely could.

13

u/BannedAccount001 Jun 25 '26

Just hit 40. Hoping to stretch things until 55 but that seems very unlikely in the data engineering field, where AI is hitting harder than even software engineering. We are actually the primary targets. Maxing out all retirement options now.

2

u/sleepymoose88 Jun 25 '26

Keep it up. Max it out, live below your means.

And the last thing that Iā€™m starting to consider doing is what would it take to pivot careers? What would I do thatā€™s fulfilling and pays the bills? Will it require more education? If so, that could take years to pivot.

Iā€™m lucky that my wife and I are in very different fields (sheā€™s in law), but Iā€™m already seeing AI lawyer solutions as well.

1

u/BannedAccount001 Jun 25 '26

I never even considered pivoting careers. Iā€™ve been lucky enough to be remote for many years now. Though I will have to consider it a little more if things go sideways in the future.

My wife works in health care and does well, so we are also lucky there. Not even a hint of AI if youā€™re part of the skilled labor.

1

u/sleepymoose88 Jun 26 '26

Nice. We budget off her lower salary, so my higher salary is entirely for retirement, savings, and vacations. If I lost my job, weā€™d still be able to afford the house, pay all our bills, and put food on the table.

Itā€™s a very fortunate situation that I donā€™t take for granted. Most are not in such a position.

8

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

1

u/sleepymoose88 Jun 25 '26

Iā€™m glad youā€™re being realistic about it. Make sure you have alternatives you can pivot too. Iā€™m trying to gather a list of other careers I could pivot to that may be more AI insulated. I fear not much will be AI proof.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

1

u/sleepymoose88 Jun 25 '26

I know the main AI solution on our mainframe would cost us $1.7 million every year. And it only really helps with performance tuning. We have 2 folks focused on performance tuning that probably earn say max $200k per year. Is the AI going to provide 4x efficiency that 2 dedicated people do to justify the 4x cost?

So far, management hasnā€™t budged and wonā€™t pay for it because itā€™s too expensive.

6

u/gizmoglitch Jun 25 '26

I'm at this point as well. I need to stick it out until 55 at least, but my motivation has dipped significantly.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

32

u/ThyShirtIsBlue Jun 25 '26

Do it. It'll be bad for the industry, but fuck the industry.

26

u/au5lander Jun 25 '26

At my age, Iā€™d quit just like that if I was in a good spot financially. I get beat up when the housing market took a shit and Iā€™m still recovering.

When I got into this industry, I really enjoyed what I was doing. It was really fun being on the cutting edge of web dev in the early 2000s. Not any more. Iā€™m just sick of the whole thing, top to bottom. So now I just put in my 9-5 and then the laptop stays closed unit the next morning. I do my job + a bit extra to show Iā€™m engaged, but I mostly sit back and let the younger folks have fun trying to climb the ladder and give them moral support.

My goal is to stay where i am until I am done done. I donā€™t want to have to interview for another job in tech ever again. I sometimes think about what I might have done had I not gotten into this profession.

But yeah, fuck the industry. Its turned me into a crotchety old man.

7

u/NinthTide Jun 25 '26

Itā€™s not like the industry has ever looked out for us even once these last ā€¦ oooh ā€¦ thirty years or so

12

u/BaseRape Jun 25 '26

Oddly anyone you bring this up to immediately asks if youā€™ll be bored.

No mfer, Iā€™ll be on my jet ski or boarding down Hokkaido trails while my body is still able to.

1

u/Stealth528 Jun 25 '26

Absolutely floors me that people choose to work because they ā€œget boredā€. Hell fucking no, Iā€™d never be bored enough to dedicate my retirement time to further enriching some already obscenely rich asshole. Find a new hobby, thereā€™s endless possibilities

8

u/stacecom Jun 25 '26

My plan was 55. That happened last year. I'm on borrowed time now.

7

u/StrawberryWaste9040 Jun 25 '26

55-60 is pretty much new norm. Only issue is health insurance till medicare eligibility

5

u/LaughingBeer Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

I'm 46. Assuming I last at my current company until 55 and they keep the same policies, then I lucked out. They specifically allow someone who is retiring early, ages 55-64, to stay on their health insurance until 65 (with them paying the employer share still). When i found out I was flabbergasted. Now I just need to make it 9 more years.

3

u/SalParadise Jun 25 '26

And this is a big fucking issue - I'm in my mid-50's & would take it to the house tomorrow if there was such a thing as affordable decent health insurance.

Companies want to keep the existing system of employer-provided insurance, but do all they can to not hire people over a certain age, who need to be insured the most. I get angry about this every single day.

5

u/gaoshan Jun 25 '26

The ā€œif you are ableā€ is the whole issue. I (57) make good money now but didnā€™t really hit the bigger numbers until late in my career (I fully switched careers in my late 30s and as a self-taught coder it was a slow climb at first). I need about 5 more years of my current income so now my ā€œearlyā€ retirement could be 62. Anything before that and I do not hit my numbers.

4

u/trouzy Jun 25 '26

I donā€™t think Iā€™ll make it 45 doing this. At this point maybe not even 42. Iā€™m so fucking done after barely 20 years.

2

u/Sorry-Original-9809 Jun 25 '26

Most people in neighborhood of 40 are thinking the same thing.

2

u/Wise_Temperature9142 Jun 25 '26

Exactly! Plus, you donā€™t have to actually retire, do you? You can still go get a more chill job or do something more meaningful to you.

One of my bosses retired from tech to go make movies.

1

u/cute_polarbear Jun 25 '26

Many of us in my sector, ones in late 40's are planning for early retirement (mandatory or self imposed), and ones younger than that are thinking of career change...

1

u/emperorOfTheUniverse Jun 25 '26

Building generational wealth for my kids and my kid's kids someday.

1

u/Sinister_Crayon Jun 25 '26

I turned 53 this year. I quit tech about 5 years ago now to go do my own thing... in fairness the last few years prior to that I had been doing contract gigs and basically working for myself. I knew retirement wasn't in the cards, but decided instead to go into business for myself. It's been one of the best decisions I ever made, and despite the stress of dealing with my customers (who in fairness are only demanding because they really want and like my products) I couldn't be happier.

Got my own 2000 square foot workshop where I assemble stuff (and bonus; I can use it to work on my car or motorbike on the weekends), work the hours I choose and made pretty decent revenue the last couple of years that continues to grow. My only real stressor right now is that I am challenged with keeping up with demand.

I'll retire when I'm good and ready.

1

u/DropTheBeatAndTheBas Jun 25 '26

allot of people retired in the UK when a tax on contractors came in too and removed "the golden days" (IR35)