Be careful about any narrative of what your life should be. You should enjoy life, and if you enjoy programming, optimize your career to do things you enjoy.

Be careful about any narrative of what your life should be. You should enjoy life, and if you enjoy programming, optimize your career to do things you enjoy. CS isn't FAANG. There are many many many many companies around the world doing all kinds of interesting stuff. I'm 48, I've worked for big and small companies often in the electronics/mechatronics/software world. I know I've done far far more diverse stuff than most people I know who work in large organizations, and get to make super critical decisions that change the destiny of a company. I enjoy that. However people in larger organizations often get to laser focus on one specific thing and put a large amount of effort and thought into it, that can be good too. Good news is, you can make money whatever way you want to go, just be prepared to adapt and change over time