I agree. Sr. Software engineers at our company can make $120k + bonus. It's not that different than their IT managers.
And IT manager is a really crappy job if you love to code. Also, it is very difficult to go from becoming IT manager to IT director or higher, especially in bigger companies.
VP of IT in large companies is filthy rich territory as per OP, but for everyone VP of IT, there are several hundred developer. Opportunity to become VP, or even director is not all that common.
>Also, it is very difficult to go from becoming IT manager to
IT director or higher, especially in bigger companies.
This is so much true.
>Opportunity to become VP, or even director is not all that common.
Completely agree. You hit nail on the head.
This is not strictly true. Programmers are relatively well paid. You can decide to live significantly below your means, and invest the rest.
For example, my neighbor once referred to his Oldsmobile as his "quarter million dollar Olds". I asked him what he meant, and he said that was the current value of the stock he'd sold to buy it.