> There’s nobody making you choose to stop being an IC There kind of is, though. If you’re lucky, once you hit mid-40, you’re with a company that will be able

> There’s nobody making you choose to stop being an IC There kind of is, though. If you’re lucky, once you hit mid-40, you’re with a company that will be able to keep you on/stay in business for the next 20 years until you retire, because job hunting as a middle-aged “IC”/non-managerial is… unpleasant. I’ve been involved in several hiring committees where (managerial) types would look at a resume and say, “this guy’s been doing this for twenty years and he’s still ‘just a programmer’? Ugh, next”.