I have had the good fortune to work with a great many older software engineers.  Most of them just keep writing great software until they feel like doing something else, at which point they typically "retire" and go do whatever new thing they're passionate about.  Some move into management (and most regret it, and of the ones that don't many of them have employees who do), but that's neither typical nor generally recommended, as it takes a fairly uncommon combination of traits to be both technically skilled and people savvy.

As far as planning a career, find out what you love doing, then put together a plan so you can do that well and profitably for the next 5 years.  Anything beyond that is a wild guess and not very likely to be useful.

Josh Coffman wrote:
> Hi,
> 
>     I'm a programmer, and i'd like to know where old programmers go. I'm wondering because I don't see a lot of 55+ programmers and I want to be prepared for the future.
> Some might say I'm still young (30's), but now is probably the time to plan for the next 20-30 years of my career.
> 
>     Does everyone get sucked into management, quit IT, or find quiet jobs in the corner where no one notices?
> 
>     btw, no offense to anyone. old programmer and being old are not the same thing.
> 
> -j
> 
> 

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