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How to Know When It's Time to Go

I retired in 2021 at 63.5 after about four decades as a programmer. What made me do this was not failing ability in any way, but after a year of consideration, I realized I didn't care to do it anymore. Everyone will eventually reach a point at which they

Of course its not only programmers, it happens in everything including sports where professionals keep playing beyond their ability (often to make a bunch more money), and even politicians who exceed their limit (currently on view as both US Presidential candidates should not run but won't quit). I knew a young programmer a decade ago who left his CS degree because he was making tons of money shipping mobile apps, he even wrote a book on it, and started several companies. You probably don't know any retired programmers—back in the early 80s, when I started, there was only a tiny percentage of programmers compared to today, and over the decades, many gave up, became managers, or became obsolete.

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