Becoming a software engineer is one of the most lucrative and promising careers today. But are software engineers rich? Can an engineer be a millionaire? Can you get rich as a software engineer? The answer to all these questions is yes. In this article, we will discuss five ways to become rich as a software engineer.
How Much Do Software Engineers Make on Average?
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, software developers make an average of $120,990 per year. This is more than double the mean salary of the general population in the United States. Furthermore, the highest-paid 10% get paid $168,570 annually.
However, this is hardly enough to become a millionaire, which means an average or even a decent-paying software engineering job will not be enough to make your rich, especially in a relatively short span of time. Thus, we will discuss some paths you could take to maximize your revenue and become a millionaire fast.
The 5 Ways To Become Rich As a Software Engineer
So how do you get rich as a software engineer? Here are five ways:
1. Get a Job at a Big Tech Company
Working for a Big Tech company is one of the surest and most risk-free ways to become rich as a software engineer. The salaries at these companies are often much higher than the average, and they also offer generous stock options and bonuses. Additionally, working for a Big Tech company will give you access to some of the best resources and talent in the industry, which will help you to further your career.
The strategy you want to utilize when working at a Big Tech company with a goal of becoming a millionaire is “climb the ladder & save money”. While Big Tech salaries are undoubtedly high, it will make no difference if you spend most of your earnings every month you get paid. Thus, you should budget carefully and place a good portion of your monthly payments into savings.
So what are the salaries in Big Tech like? Here are examples of Google’s and Meta’s total compensation levels according to Levels.fyi:
Google:
| Position | Total compensation |
|---|---|
| L3 (SWE II) | $182,675 |
| L4 (SWE III) | $258,791 |
| L5 (Senior SWE) | $345,515 |
| L6 (Staff SWE) | $475,631 |
| L7 (Senior Staff SWE) | $708,420 |
| L8 (Principal Engineer) | $1,125,818 |
———————
Meta:
| Position | Total compensation |
|---|---|
| E3 | $171,971 |
| E4 | $241,740 |
| E5 | $319,947 |
| E6 | $463,054 |
| E7 | $823,585 |
| E8 | $1,818,080 |
As you can see, these salaries are much more likely to get you to the millionaire rank. It will undoubtedly take you time to get to the level of seniority to be earning really high salaries outlined above, and you would need to be smart about your spending in order to properly accumulate your wealth. By working in Big Tech and saving money, you can realistically become a millionaire in 8-15 years.
2. Work for a Startup
Another way to become rich as a software engineer is to work for a startup. Startups are often willing to pay more than larger companies because they need to attract top talent. Additionally, many startups offer equity options, which can be extremely valuable if the company is successful. However, it is important to remember that not all startups are successful, so there is always some risk involved. As a first step, you should thus use your intuition to pick out the most promising startups to work for.
As a second consideration, if you want to maximize your chances of becoming rich as a software engineer, you should try to be an early employee at a startup. Early employees typically receive larger equity stakes in the company, which can be worth a lot of money if the startup is successful. You should try to negotiate high equity stakes when accepting a new job at a startup engineer.
If you play it smart and get reasonably lucky, the startup you work at will appreciate in value within 3-10 years and make your equity skyrocket. By selling your stock, you can accrue a large amount of money and become a millionaire immediately. This path takes on average 5-8 years if your startup accelerates in growth quickly and steadily.
3. Become an Executive
Another way to become rich as a software engineer is to work long enough to become an executive at your company. It may take time, but getting a position of CTO, CEO, or other high-level executive will put you in a much better position to make a lot of money. Additionally, executives typically receive equity in their companies, which can be extremely valuable.
Engineers are good candidates for CEO positions because they can adapt their skills to any problem. In fact, many of the Fortune 500 companies are run by engineers who were promoted to CEOs, and these companies are doing quite well.
Examples of engineers who have become CEOs of famous companies include Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, and Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft. Both of these individuals have started as engineers at their companies and have progressed to the top through their dedication and hard work.
Salaries of executives in tech companies range from $500,000 to over $1 million per year. However, this is just a fraction of the total compensation their receive from their companies. Executive-level employees typically get very large amount of equity from their companies, which makes their total compensation several times higher.
This path is no easy feat, however, and may take anywhere between 10-20 years to achieve, depending on how quickly you are promoted.
4. Open Your Own Company
If you want to get rich quickly as a software engineer, you may want to consider becoming an entrepreneur. This is the quickest and the most rewarding way to make a lot of money as an engineer. It comes with its own risks, but the potential to earn significant amount of money is incredibly high.
One way you could become an entrepreneur as an engineer is to open your own software development agency. This would involve starting your own business and then marketing your services to clients. If you are able to get a few good clients, you can start charging high rates and make a lot of money.
Another option would be to create your own software product. This could be a mobile app, a desktop application, or anything else that people would be willing to pay for. Once you have created your product, you can then sell it online and make a lot of money. This option is riskier than opening an agency, but the potential rewards are much higher.
Finally, you could also open a consulting agency. This would involve providing advice and guidance to clients on various topics, such as how to use technology, how to start their own businesses, and so forth. If you are able to build up a good reputation, you can charge high rates and make a lot of money.
All of these options are viable ways to become rich as a software engineer. However, they all come with their own risks and rewards, so you will need to carefully consider which option is best for you.
If you are successful being an entrepreneur, you could achieve high revenue levels fairly quickly and become a millionaire within 3-5 years. This is by far the quickest way to become rich as a software engineer.
Examples of successful software engineers who have opened their own businesses include Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook (now Meta). Both of these individuals are now billionaires and are living proof that being a tech entrepreneur can make you very rich.
5. Create Your Own Software Product
You don’t have to start a whole company to earn good money from writing code. If you can create a popular software product, you can make a lot of money just from selling that product.
An example of such software can be a web platform, a SaaS (Software as a Service) product, a mobile app, or anything else that people are willing to pay for. It may be more difficult to scale your earning by being a solopreneur, but it is still definitely possible to become rich by selling your own software product.
One popular example of such a product is the mobile game Wordle, which became a sensation after the owner Josh Wardle built the app on his own for him and his partner. The game was later acquired by the New York Times for low seven figures.
If you are able to create such a popular and successful software product, you can make a lot of money and become rich very quickly.
Tips on How to Become a Millionaire Faster as a Software Engineer
Becoming rich as a software engineer is possible. But obviously not everyone can become wealthy, even if they follow one of the above tracks.
A large portion of becoming a successful millionaire being a software engineer comes from luck. You can’t always predict which company will rise and what opportunities you may be presented at a given time. However, there are several things you could do in order to maximize your chances of success.
1. Focus on high-demand skills
One of the best things you can do to increase your chances of becoming rich is to focus on high-demand skills. If you are able to develop skills that are currently in demand on the market and predict what tools will become popular in the near future, you will be more likely to find well-paying jobs and have opportunities to start your own successful business. Some examples of currently high-demand skills include artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and web development.
2. Leave time each day for learning/sharpening your skills
Another important thing you can do to improve your chances of becoming wealthy is to leave time each day for learning and sharpening your skills. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend hours every day reading books or taking online courses. Even spending 30 minutes per day practicing coding challenges or working on personal projects can make a big difference in the long run. Knowledge accumulates, and the more you learn, the better positioned you will be to take advantage of opportunities that come your way.
3. Become irreplaceable
If you want to be successful, you need to make sure that you are irreplaceable. The best way to do this is to develop a unique skill set that is in high demand and not easy to replace. For example, if you have a very specific in-demand skillset such as machine learning with experience in natural language processing, you are likely to be irreplaceable in many companies.
4. Live frugally
One of the keys to becoming rich is to live frugally. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on fancy clothes or cars, and you can save a lot of money by cooking at home and living in a modest apartment. Of course, you don’t have to live like a monk, but if you can keep your expenses low, you will have more money to invest and will be able to become a millionaire much faster.
5. Invest
Investing is one of the most important things you can do to become a millionaire more quickly. By investing your money in stocks, real estate, or other assets, you can grow your wealth much faster than if you simply let your money sit in a savings account.
Of course, becoming a millionaire is not easy, and there is no guarantee that you will become wealthy even if you follow all of the above advice. However, if you are willing to work hard and take advantage of opportunities that come your way, you have a much better chance of becoming a millionaire as a software engineer.
Is Software Engineering a Good Career?
Software engineering is a well-compensated, in-demand, intellectually stimulating profession with good work-life balance and excellent opportunities for career growth and advancement. It is a great career choice for anyone who has interest and technical predisposition to programming.
Whether software engineering is a right career for you, however, depends on your own preferences and interests. We would never advice someone who isn’t at least partially passionate in programming to take this career path, even if they had excellent technical abilities.
The choice of whether to pursue computer science or not should come down to the combination of logic and passion, which includes consideration of objective factors like salary, demand, and career opportunities, as well as subjective factors, such as personal interest and abilities.
For more information on this topic, check out our articles “Is Software Engineering a Good Career?” and “Is Computer Science Right For Me?”.
Conclusion
Becoming a millionaire as a software engineer is not easy, but it is possible. If you are willing to work hard and take advantage of opportunities that come your way, you have a much better chance of becoming a millionaire. In this article, we have provided some ways and tips on how to become rich as a software engineer. We hope that you find these tips helpful and will be able to use them to achieve financial success in your career.
Elmar Mammadov is a software developer, tech startup founder, and computer science career specialist. He is the founder of CS Careerline and a true career changer who has previously pursued careers in medicine and neuroscience.
Due to his interest in programming and years of past personal experience in coding, he decided to break into the tech industry by attending a Master’s in Computer Science for career changers at University of Pennsylvania. Elmar passionately writes and coaches about breaking into the tech industry and computer science in general.