I think all of the above. I turn 64 this year, with 40+ years programming and system admin experience. Companies outside the world of software development and

I think all of the above. I turn 64 this year, with 40+ years programming and system admin experience. Companies outside the world of software development and tech startups tend to have more older programmers. I worked a lot in enterprise logistics with mostly older programmers, for example. I have freelanced for about 15 years and noticed that most of the successful freelancers I meet skew over 40. I will guess that happens because younger programmers don’t have the contact network and domain expertise needed to freelance. I don’t count Upwork/Fiverr piecework as freelancing — I keep clients for years without much churn. Many programmers I know in my age range moved into management. Others burned out and changed careers. A handful hit the stock option lottery and retired.