This is going to sound more mean spirited than I mean it to be because I enjoy programming.
You should move away from San Francisco. In places like Austin, Tx or Atlanta, GA you could easily retire with a nice home after 5 or 10 years as a software engineer.
Your view is incredibly myopic
In tech and honestly in most other industries in America (I won't purport to speak for the rest of the world) you only end up "managed people without a seat at the big boy table" if you never have the gall to go out and try to strike it on your own. This is because you'll be managed by people who did.
And the shelf life of which you speak only happens if you refuse to learn new skills and improve.
You should move away from San Francisco. In places like Austin, Tx or Atlanta, GA you could easily retire with a nice home after 5 or 10 years as a software engineer.
Your view is incredibly myopic
In tech and honestly in most other industries in America (I won't purport to speak for the rest of the world) you only end up "managed people without a seat at the big boy table" if you never have the gall to go out and try to strike it on your own. This is because you'll be managed by people who did.
And the shelf life of which you speak only happens if you refuse to learn new skills and improve.