Good post. If you are starting out, it's well worth listening to guys who tried hard and didnt quite get the brass ring. One trap that Zack and I both fell into is consulting. He had a lot of small contracts for a modest income, while I had multi-year contracts for a good income. I averaged $165K for more than a decade, but if you take out the health insurance, vacation/holiday pay, and don time, it's no better than a good paying job. In California it wont make you rich. And you can get trapped in older technology. The pay is good because no one else wants to do it.