[chollida1]

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from the Dilbert cartoonist. His advice that you can either be in the top 5% at one thing or the top 25% at two things.

Most engineers I mentor make the "mistake" of only focusing on being good at "programming". There is nothing wrong with it, but I'd argue that there is a much lower ceiling than if you were an expert at both programming in general and some niche topic.

In my case I'd say math is the other leg I specialize in, with market micro structure being a close third.

In the general case it could be something like SEO, visual design, or a particular industry like logistics.

The other way to make more is to be closer to the money. If you are developing a product then you are considered a cost center, ie a negative on cash flow not a positive. Sales on the other hand is often the canonical example of a boundless upper limit on compensation as they can directly draw a line from incoming revenue to themselves.

Don't be a programmer, be an engineer who can solve real world business problems. Even better be able to draw a straight line from your work to incoming revenue!