I also didnt get into software to chase money, but I'm curious what those careers are, and what the cost of entry is for those careers?
Software seems like a pretty clear winner when it comes to compensation and what you have to do for that compensation.
Edit: Medicine and law are the only close competitors I can think of, and I didn't need to bury myself in debt or do 10 plus years of specialized training to get paid to build software.
Finance seems like a fair enough answer, although it always sounded a bit like a meat grinder, and how many of these jobs are there?
Consulting seems like something you need ivy league status and/or the right connections to get into, and probably requires lots of travel, and again, how many of these jobs are there?
If you're half decent at some corporate friendly language, you can have a pretty above average salary without needing to work all that hard. Current market notwithstanding, there are loads of people employed doing this, some of them entirely from the comfort of their own homes.
Software seems like a pretty clear winner when it comes to compensation and what you have to do for that compensation.
Edit: Medicine and law are the only close competitors I can think of, and I didn't need to bury myself in debt or do 10 plus years of specialized training to get paid to build software.