The last 2-3 years I have made more money than I have ever made and it was coded 100% remote (from Hawaii). I had one meeting at the clients place. Made somewhere around 180K and this was me full time with a part time developer subcontracted out which didn't actually bring in much additional revenue < 10%. It did bring throughput.
As of about a month ago I was let go as the top developer in the Saas company because I was deemed too expensive by the board. I am pretty sure the CTO didn't want to give up me as a resource.
All of a sudden I have realized that overseas developers have become a priority and it is my feeling that as an hourly developer my days are limited in making $80-$100/hr (corp 2 corp contract).
It is my feeling that I have 2 possible directions. 1) Start an outsourced overseas development company and use my 'Software Architect" title (which is so funny to me because architect is thrown around so much in software) and manage resources overseas. 2) Start selling software on a per usage basis or in some value add model. I believe both of them are solid bets however #2 takes more commitment.
At this point I think the reason salaries are topping off is because of the global market. That is just my take from being in the industry. Thank you.