My path after 7 lean years self-unemployment following the dotcom bust on the wrong side of 50 was landing a full-time programming job at a small startup, follo

My path after 7 lean years self-unemployment following the dotcom bust on the wrong side of 50 was landing a full-time programming job at a small startup, followed after 6 months by being recruited , by a large tech company as a contractor in the slightly rare main skill I picked up in the startup. After 5 years as contractor I became full time employee and hope this will see me through retirement. Do the math on salary and benefits since my full time position appeared to be a pay cut but was really a 30% raise. Life will seem to enter slow motion for a while at large company, but don't worry it soon wears off :-)