r/cscareerquestions • u/Odd-Block-2998 • 1h ago
Experienced Has anyone here actually retired after ~10 YOE? How did it go?
I have been a SWE for a decade or so. I am seriously considering stepping away for US tech industry entirely. Already have sufficient money for lean fire, not much, but still doable.
The math isn't the hard part. What's hard is that every instinct I have says I am making a mistake: walking away during peak earning years, the boredom everyone warns about, and the very real chance that if I ever want back in, the market won't want me.
I am not looking for financial advice. I'm curious about the lived experience from people who actually did this.
Did you stay out, or did you end up going back? What pulled you back? What filled your days once the novelty wore off?
Did you miss the identity of being an engineer, or was shedding it a relief? Is there anything you wish you would understood before you quit?
Would appreciate hearing from anyone a few years down this road.
33
u/Hour-Tax7205 1h ago
I know someone that has 15 years experience. Took a few years off and cannot find a job right now.
6
u/No-Assist-8734 48m ago
Fake news baby that's fake news. Everyone knows that there will forever be a surplus of SWE jobs , because computer science is the most elite degree above all others ! /s
3
u/sudden_aggression u Pepperidge Farm remembers. 7m ago
People bitch about work until they can't get any.
A lot of this comes down to timing though. If the profession is doing well when you try to get back in, it's like you never left.
16
u/Adventurous-Bad9095 1h ago
I pulled the trigger at 31 after 9 years and it’s been 2 years since I touched a codebase
The identity part was weird for like 6 months, kept introducing myself as a software engineer at parties even though I was just puttering around my garage. Eventually that faded and now I just say I’m between things
What filled the days was way more physical than I expected. Built a climbing wall in my backyard, got way too into sourdough, coached my nephew’s robotics team. None of it sounds impressive but the days move faster than they ever did staring at Jira
3
u/Odd-Block-2998 1h ago
Is it because you are already financially independent? For some of us, we only start our tech career at ~30 years old.
1
u/steezy2110 1h ago
How did you make so much in just 9 years? Startup gone right? Or just good timing in the market?
7
u/primals_game 1h ago
Working in FAANG for me. Amazon Senior SDE makes about 400K/ year. I know someone making 600K+ at Uber, but you need to be the cream of the crop to even get an interview.
3
u/Odd-Block-2998 1h ago
From Blind, senior SWEs joining at Uber in 2022 earned $1M+ at their peak. So much!
2
1
u/steezy2110 1h ago
Seems like you need to be the cream of the crop to get any interview now
I’ve only had 2 interviews in the 3 years since I graduated. My NW is in the low 5 figure range rn
-1
u/income-percent-bot 1h ago
Impressive! Your income of $400,000 places you in the top 2% (98th percentile). This is well above the median for Senior SDE (Senior Software Development Engineer). Source: income percentile calculator I'm a bot. Reply with !optout to stop receiving responses.
9
u/pelicandev 1h ago
I retired by changing jobs. I'm tired of getting laid off every year and it's done damage to my mental health.
4
5
u/fakemoose 1h ago
Most of my friends’ parents have retired in the last few years. The ones who were doctors and teachers are pumped about retirement. The ones who were engineers and scientists are losing their damn minds with boredom. Some went back to work part time as consultants. Some we’ve been helping find a damn hobby or something.
2
u/Substantial-Swan7065 1h ago
It could be a mistake but it depends on your life goals. It’s amazing to be able to retire early.
But you can also part-time retire, build a small business, or even do a start up.
Either way, your career should never define you.
2
u/Hungry_Age5375 1h ago
Short Answer: nobody in hiring cares about a 2-3 year gap as much as you fear. Long Answer: the market resets every 18 months anyway, half your stack knowledge goes stale whether you work or not.
1
u/NewChameleon Software Engineer, SF 1h ago
I think it's definitely possible to retire by ~10 YoE, lots of people on Blind have done it, there's 2 hidden assumptions going on there
1 is the retirement isn't in USA, cost of living in rest of the world are much lower
2 is the retirement city isn't a tier-1, I don't remember all the tier-2 and tier-3 city names but I'd imagine probably something similar to say "don't retire in San Francisco-CA, retire in Redding-CA" or "don't retire in NYC-NY, retire in Rochester-NY", the impression I got was "tier-1" likely means even a non-local knows, and tier-2 or tier-3 means you probably never even think about that city or doesn't even know that city exists unless you're a local
1
u/Odd-Block-2998 1h ago
Interesting. I thought most people on Blind still work (not quit yet) at 10 YOE.
3
u/NewChameleon Software Engineer, SF 1h ago
because those people have a $3mil SF Bay Area house while putting 2 kids in private schooling plus nanny and drive luxury car plus multiple international trips/year etc etc and they're burning $300k/year in expenses so they need $10mil+ to retire
every once in a while you'll come across a post like "is $750k USD enough to retire in [some tier-3 city] in India?" and people would tell them it's way more than enough
1
u/pizza_the_mutt 57m ago
I left, but at age 48, so later than ~10 years. I do feel bad for leaving money on the table. But for me the decision was made due to the health issues the job was causing me. So, overall, I think I made the right decision. My health is much better and I have lots of hobbies and a family.
Hopefully that stays the case. I do suspect I am rapidly becoming unemployable as time passes.
1
u/sudden_aggression u Pepperidge Farm remembers. 37m ago
Don't do it.
- fulfillment doesn't come from a job- if you're feeling dissatisfied, it's probably something else in your personal life. Do you have a wife and kids? Might want to get to work on that. They're not going to settle for "lean FIRE" lmao
- you're gonna get bored having nothing to do
- since you need something to do, you might as well get paid for it
- get a hobby or something on the side
- pay off your house, get even more financially independent
1
u/NewChameleon Software Engineer, SF 31m ago
not OP, I highly disagree with pretty much everything you said
fulfillment doesn't come from a job- if you're feeling dissatisfied, it's probably something else in your personal life.
I'm feeling dissatisfied PRECISELY because I need to work (over the years though I've slowly changed that 'need' into 'I want to, I guess?')
you're gonna get bored having nothing to do
who says nothing to do? I got loads of shits that I want to do besides work
since you need something to do, you might as well get paid for it
get paid for it means you have a manager, or a boss, or someone you answer to, because that's the person who'll be writing your paycheck, the whole point of FIRE is I will answer to no one except me
pay off your house, get even more financially independent
if I actually bought a house I kid you not, it would probably set my FIRE goal back by at least 10 years if not more
money I can take with me, it's just a number on the screen, I can pull $1 USD out in USA, Finland, Germany
I can't fly a $2mil Mountain View-CA-USA house to Argentina, not to mention a lot of the housing cost is land price not material price, I remember reading a news article years ago about some burned down house in San Jose is selling for $900k, yeah no shit they're not buying the house, they're buying the land
1
u/sudden_aggression u Pepperidge Farm remembers. 10m ago
The point is that you need to work. Accept it. Being disgruntled about things you can't change will just eat away at you.
Having accepted this truth, pick the work that puts you in the best position to do everything you actually care about in your life.
1
u/Correct_Mistake2640 14m ago
Good luck.
I am at year 23 and still can't retire but I am in Eastern Europe, making 1/4th of the US salary and having similar costs..
With barely 500k USD saved (and invested) I can only have lean fire and that would work for me but I have a wife and child to think of as well.
Sadly with the latest models and tech, even the system design/application architecture path will be covered by AI ( Claude Opus 5.5/ Gpt 6 Astra) so I might not get a choice..
-1
27
u/primals_game 1h ago edited 1h ago
I retired at 35, so about 10 years of experience. I have enough capital to live comfortably in all but the most expensive cities. I have not worked for about a year.
I say retired, but I still program games on the side for fun. I re-found my love for programming. I wake up every day wanting to work on my projects. I often work more than I did a regular 9-5. But it is not because of a deadline or the need for money. It is my dream. I feel like my long arc of 20 years of programming has finally allowed me to live it.
Will I go back? If I had a kid, then I would to both to set an example and provide them a good life. I have also considered getting a cyber security masters in case my country needs me. These are not for money for myself, but for something greater than me.