My Aunt wrote computer code into her 60s. This was up until at most 10 years ago. She has a degree in math and went back to school after being a SAHM and got a degree in computer science from a community college, and banged out code for about 15 years.
She coded circles around (and out-adulted) her younger colleagues.
Good on her, and whenever I see/hear folks say that hiring younger workers is cheaper overall for a company, I very simply wonder if they have ever actually worked for a good experienced older worker.
An older worker can get things done in an hour that can take younger workers a day (or even longer!), and thats not even including having someone come in and fix issues with the younger person's code. The older person can mentor younger people, and will ensure that the younger workforce will turn into better workers.
On top of that you hit on the other thing, they are often more mature, have a better work life balance, and know what they want. This tends to mean less personnel issues, the person is much less likely to burn out, and the person will stay there longer.
I would happily pay 3-4x for that more seasoned person for the quality work alone, but there are so many reasons to have older, more experienced people in your company.
She's not a boastful person and doesn't like talking about work, and we don't have much in common. But in an effort to bridge the gap, she would tell me about work. The few conversations we had about her job made me angry on her behalf for how much of the workload, and more importantly management responsibilities, she shouldered on behalf of the company for no increase in title or pay.
It was a small, family owned company that made medical software that was a little "fly by the seat of the pants" if you get my drift.
For the removal of doubt, I have worked as a computer programmer.
She coded circles around (and out-adulted) her younger colleagues.