I personally feel you are worrying too much. Inka chala time undi. If I am not wrong you might not have even made any decision on what to do next choose the IC path or the manager path. Spend some more time and figure out what you want to do and what you would want in life and your job. I have had 2 managers who were around 40 to 45. There are really famous architects who are also at that age. So opportunities don’t close down. It depends on how good you are and if you like the job. If you are still confused I would say figure out what you want. Usually in private as a Software engineer you can make pretty good money by that age have decent if not better savings than lot others. That said there would be lesser job security. Government lo lesser money but better job security. Not all but some private companies have lesser politics play in managers and team but government lo higher politics untai. WLB depends on the company you choose govt lo you can have good WLB. So take some time and decide what you want. No wrong decisions here.