That's what Cassandra does, she will find a way to destroy you. She doesn't destroy gameplay, but the odds of survival. So you have to hurry and get that ship moving because sticking around getting wealthier means the end of your colony. Randy just leaves it to luck.
And for the record, with late game I mean at least 15 years
Wealth / attack strength are linear after a couple of years, with of course some random variation. I am not sure about skills & age, but their apparel and bionics do count