[adevine]

I would say there are generally a couple options: 1. Yes, first is straight-forward dev management. 2. I would say another option related to #1 is to go into PRODUCT management, which can then lead to higher level product responsibilities. Someone who is a great product manager who ALSO has a deep technological understanding of implementation options is a real rarity and extremely valuable in today's job market. 3. If you do want to be spending the majority of your time writing code at 50, you need to do everything you can to be a complete expert in some technology. You'll need to change with the times as that technology evolves and pick up new skills, but lots of technologies have lifespans longer than we may think. For example, Java has been around for 20 years already, C++ for over 30, and there is still loads of running technology that uses these languages.