1. I know many people who've had significant salary increases into their 40s, at least. 2. Management is not automatically higher-paying than development, unti

1. I know many people who've had significant salary increases into their 40s, at least. 2. Management is not automatically higher-paying than development, until you get into the higher reaches of management, which not everyone will. 3. To the extent people are flatlining, it might just be a case of starting high; if you're hitting a wall with a number that's in the top 5% of individual income nationally, well, you're doing better than 95% of people out there, so consider that it might not be so bad after all.