I'm 40 and have no trouble staying in programming / development.
The challenge is "Flow". It needs to be something at the right difficulty level and as you get older it feels like things get very repetitive.
Working a company with a hard problem to solve and that allows for more creativity, experimentation, and implementing of new ideas / paradigms is very rewarding. I have been at other companies where it feels more like grunt work and it is miserable.
I haven't personally felt any drive towards management but I do find mentoring junior developers and interns quite rewarding.
The challenge is "Flow". It needs to be something at the right difficulty level and as you get older it feels like things get very repetitive.
Working a company with a hard problem to solve and that allows for more creativity, experimentation, and implementing of new ideas / paradigms is very rewarding. I have been at other companies where it feels more like grunt work and it is miserable.
I haven't personally felt any drive towards management but I do find mentoring junior developers and interns quite rewarding.