I am 39, been programming for about 10 years, and I have never managed anybody. Mentored numerous, always had an "open door" to sit with a junior or even not-so

I am 39, been programming for about 10 years, and I have never managed anybody. Mentored numerous, always had an "open door" to sit with a junior or even not-so-junior dev to hash out/debug/conceptually consult on something. This is part by explicit choice, part by just not being as "emotionally" invested in the tech decisions as people who desired management. I always volunteer to take on or clean up parts of the code or stack that no one else wants to touch as long as my other work duties would be reasonably adjusted to accommodate for this, so that everyone else's job could be more fun and productive. I have always been valued by both management and for being this kind of "informal player", and never felt my job was at risk, or that I got stale. You don't need to be working on the latest tools/lang's/stacks: just writing and reading code constantly. Tech challenges that keep your skills sharp lurk everywhere.