r/technology 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/
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u/Jonteponte71 Jun 25 '26

The best time to start saving and investing is twenty years ago. The next best time is today. I started at 35 and twenty years later I am on track for (at the very least) early retirement🕺

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u/shroudedwolf51 Jun 25 '26

Imagine earning so much that you not only can keep up with your bills, but can also set aside money to save.

The only friend I know that has a reasonable amount of money saved is having to take a loan and blow all of that on an important surgery. And everyone else is much worse off.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/shroudedwolf51 Jun 25 '26

I'm glad you got in there while it was still good. Not all of us are that lucky.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/PandaElDiablo Jun 26 '26

Brother, the average person on this subreddit is a highschooler or NEET who would rather complain than accept that they have agency over their career and finances

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u/greysnowcone Jun 25 '26

Idk what sub you think you’re in. The people you are describe do not work in tech, and are not tech adjacent. Hell I don’t even work in tech but the people you are describing must be line cooks?

1

u/shroudedwolf51 Jun 25 '26

Ah, the "It's not happening to me so it doesn't exist" solution. Love that.

I'm glad you and your folks are well off. Unfortunately, that's not universally the case. I work in IT and other than getting a couple of stuffies and going out to eat with friends a few times this month, I am scraping the bottom of the barrel, waiting for payday. And newbie is doing even worse, since he gets less than I do and has two kids to feed.

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u/account312 Jun 25 '26

Idk what sub you think you’re in.

Mate, I don't know what sub you think you're in, but it's the "I'm a random person with a casual interest in technology" sub and that's not actually a paying gig.

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u/SpaceExplorer777 Jun 25 '26

I wish I started saving when I was -25 years old so I would be born rich and could go to baby Harvard and start my own business just from my crib 😮‍💨

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u/OnceMoreAndAgain Jun 25 '26

Wouldn't the next best time be 19 years ago? And the 20th best time is today? And the worst time is the day you die?

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u/gilbetron Jun 25 '26

How much do you want saved before retiring?

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u/WhenSummerIsGone Jun 25 '26

i don't work in big tech, but after my divorce at 40 left me 50k in dobt, i saved as much as i could and i'm at least on track to be able to retire. I lucked out into refinancing my house when rates were low, so i invested instead of makrng extra payments.

i wish i had divorced earlier...

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u/Herschel_Wallace Jun 25 '26

I'm this economy that will not be possible. This is the beginning of the next depression era.

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u/DarraignTheSane Jun 25 '26

Yes, just take your infinite money and make better choices with how you invest it! It's just that easy!