> letting my high pay level, ageism and existing "we don't need Senior Engineers; we have really smart management to do the thinking ahead etc. for the junior engineers"

> Why run the Leetcode gauntlet (which seems to closely resemble Final Exams Week from my Uni days, with the same intense cramming prerequisite)

It seems like a massive waste that we've decided to essentially kick someone like you, with lots of experience who isn't really all that old, out of the workforce. But that's a dumb thing we decided to do as a society so, not your fault, so enjoy retirement!

In a well-run system I guess we'd offer engineers in their mid 50's a role that incrementally decreases the amount of work done directly, and overtime refocuses to an advisor role. Institutionalize that experience. Maybe every couple years decrease the number of days worked per week.