Contracting and age what age is too old?

[singhr]

Me and most of my contractor buddies are all over 40 and still coining it. Generally we are too expensive to be let anywhere near the code as Bob Shawadiwadi has that all sown up but there is plenty of space for peeps to say 'Oi, you don't want to do it like that' etc. Interestingly, I am seeing hardly any young gun contract programmers any more - where did they all go?

[Stan.goodvibes]

yeah me too, over 40 and still coining it. Without wanting to sound like a blowhard I am *definately* better at what i do than the permatozoa in the office and i work a hell of a lot harder than they do.

I'd say that I am a better 'all-rounder' than I was when I was a young coder, and I understand the business better.

Given that I keep seeing that clients want soft skills like good oral and written communication, common sense, knowledge of business processes etc I think being older and having done this now for 15 years I'm much better value than when i was starting off, even if I had leet VB skills back then.

And I'm a lot less likely to go large on the weekend (wed-sun) anymore drinking and clubbing and taking drugs and turning up on Monday (or Friday) with about 2 functioning neurons.

[Lockhouse]

I reckon I technically peaked at around 36-40 although I didn't know it at the time. These days I can't code as long (I'm 47), nor take as much in as I used to but make up for it in common sense and experience. People come to me more to be reassured than technically dazzled these days.

Have plans B and now C underway as I know that in another 4-5 years I won't be able to cut it at the highest level and don't want to work for peanuts.

[rootsnall]

Have plans B and now C underway as I know that in another 4-5 years I won't be able to cut it at the highest level and don't want to work for peanuts.

We are not Premiership footballers ! You just need to be semi competent to plod along in this game and I reckon I could 'degenerate' considerably and still be able to do the job. Whizz kids cause more problems than they solve, producing whizzy over engineered code is usually not what is really required. Saying that I'd agree with an earlier post that the real oldie contractors ( touching 60 ) I've come across were usually pretty odd and probably past it.

[GreenerGrass]

Short of a catastrophic divorce, why would you want to contract after 60?

Currently 38 and plan to pay the mortgage off by 45 or thereabouts and spend the few years after that just aquiring property and stuffing a lot more money in my SIPP in case ageism starts becoming an issue as I nudge 50.
I'd be wary of any life plan that relies on you contracting fulltime until 65. After 50, certainly 55 maybe just the odd little stint to earn extra spending money. Call it semi retirement.

Team at current gig are nearly all well over 30, with quite a few in their mid and late 40s. No one over 50 though.

[ContractorMike]

well this was interesting