[jacquesm]

Hell yes!

There are many different kinds of programming, some are fun and some are not.

If you really want to be doing this when you're 50 make sure you get good enough that you can pick the projects that are fun. If by the time you are 50 and you've been doing this for 3 decades you are still gluing api's that's not the fault of 'programming', that's a direct result of choices made earlier.

And one more thing: on the scale of things that you could be doing, look at your parents, grandparents and their grandparents and what they were doing when they were 50. Suddenly that api gluing doesn't look so bad at all.

[Surio]

@Jacquesm, I agree with your FU money concept and I am actively working on that. I think this comment is a byproduct (side-effect?! (-;) of your having achieved FI.

But what you mentioned here is what I would consider "Let them eat cake instead" advice. :)

Not well thought out.

Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion, and besides historical perspectives are based on whatever set of lenses you choose to wear. Actually, our grandparents (even parents) had more time in their lives, more variety in their lives that was completely unrelated to their 9-5 routines, their professional lives were (mostly) on autopilot, so they had more free time to pursue all kinds of hobbies and tinkering, while still working on a daily job! So, yes I am looking at grandparents too, but I chose to wear different lenses.

[jacquesm]

My grandparents would have been very happy with time and energy left over for 'hobbies and tinkering'.

[saraid216]

I think you both need to remember that you probably have different sets of grandparents living in different circumstances.

[Evbn]

By grandparents were busting their hump building new businesses after fleeing genocide in their home country, I wouldn't trade my life for theirs.