Let's say you think $1M is good enough for your notion of financial independence. Well, how can you accumulate that amount in 20 years? One way would be to invest $2750/month. If you can manage an average annual return of 4%, you'll hit the $1M mark right after 20 years. If you start at 25 (giving you a buffer period after college to grow some roots), you'll be good by the time you're 45.

Note that in this case, "financial independence" doesn't necessarily have to mean that you're wealthy enough to live your picture perfect life without ever working a day again. It could simply mean that you've reached a point where you don't need to save more and could take a 50% paycut without any serious long-term implications for your retirement. An example might be that you make low six figures up until age 45, surpass the $1M mark in investments, and then you get hit by ageism and your income drops by half for whatever reason. You're not going to be saving much anymore unless you make lifestyle changes, but you've still got the million bucks in the bank. The drop in income has impacted your ability to save and invest more, but it has had no effect on the savings you've already amassed, and it's still good enough to sustain your comfortable lifestyle with more modest savings.

<< I wonder how long it's been since you were young. While saving early is likely a good idea, it's also the time that student loans, young families, buying houses etc are all huge costs that very likely making saving much impossible. It's also a time to have fun, travel, enjoy life. >>

These are all great excuses for not saving. Life doesn't care about your excuses. You either find a way to do it, or you don't. Some people will have such severe extenuating circumstances that saving much or anything is impossible, and my heart goes out to those people (and my respect for fighting an even harder battle than the rest of us). But the majority of young, employed developers can do it. Having fun, traveling and enjoying life in your 20s sounds great (and you can afford some of that even saving half your net income); but what about being in debt and living paycheck to paycheck in your 40s, with the stress of a spouse and kids to support? Having substantially no safety net to quit your job or take risks, so that you become enslaved to a safe job even if you hate it? The parable of the Ant and the Grasshopper is as true today as it was 2500 years ago when Aesop put it into his book of fables. And the truth is, having fun, traveling and enjoying life is great at almost any age, and much easier to do (and more enjoyable) with some financial independence. Saving when you are very young yields such huge benefits due to compound interest over time that it looks like a magic trick.

As for me, my experience is anecdotal but I did live through some incredibly hard times, including living in my car and with roommates in shitty apartments, and eating off the dollar menu at McDonalds for a long time (not recommended), and making a lot of other sacrifices in my personal life to get to where I wanted. I also had a lot of fun, traveled very cheaply with lifelong friends and had a great time. It's a balance, but not one that most people seem to strike very well.

<< I've been a software developer for 27 years and have encountered none of the "incredibly cruel" discriminations you suggest. It's definitely true and I see this often that many as they age don't bother to stay current, they get stuck in old ways and don't want to keep up to date. >>

I didn't imply that your interviewer would be ''incredibly cruel'' as in they would sneer and snicker at your age and you would encounter an environment of overt hostility and rudeness. I meant the transition from being ''hot'' and persistently courted by many companies and recruiters to no longer being as desirable can be confusing, painful mental whiplash. Having known a few professional athletes, the parallels are actually pretty apt - it's hard to go from the spotlight to the background for anyone. I agree with you that many don't bother to stay current as they age, and they should. Continuing education is not stressed enough in our field.

<< But for those that do, those that stay at the forefront of their field there's no discrimination. You just have to be better than the rest, whether you're 20 or 50. >>

I think this is demonstrably false, with a few rare exceptions. There is an age bias in our industry and it doesn't help anyone to pretend like it doesn't exist. In most startups and some company cultures it is worse, and in some company cultures it doesn't exisit at all, and in most companies it probably falls somewhere in between. I'm not saying that developers are unemployable after a certain age - they aren't, it's still very easy, relatively speaking, for them to find a job, but it might not be the job they want or the company they want to work for. Financinal independence gives them the freedom to pick and choose, or start their own company, rather than becoming sucked into slavery within a system that appreciates them progressively less and less each year.

The problem is, though, starting saving/investing even just a couple years sooner can turn into much higher returns down the road, so it's a good idea to start that trend as early as possible. If you can find investments with a higher yield than your loan interest rate, it can make sense to pay the minimum on your loans and carry the debt for a while.

Nowadays I do save more than 50% of my income, but I also have no dependents or debt.

It happened to me. I did and do stay current, there is a perception among management, especially in UI development that only college grads get the new stuff. The old folks only know how to do back-end well is their perception. This is why enterprises fail, clueless management.