i hear the strong throughline of "permanent employee" in these replies...
there is a lot of work to be found in contracting as well... there are a lot of people against this, and
often for good reason, but that doesn't mean it's not viable for what you are trying to do, which,
from what i can tell from your post, is make a good salary from your programming...
by now from the replies you'll have seen that your experience has at best an indirect effect on your salary...
many other factors play a part...

you can eliminate a lot of the hassle by being a contractor... (can you tell, i'm one... =)
there's more than enough work worldwide... see job serve...

what does contracting have that speaks in it's favor?

money
travel (sometimes)
often more experience than a permanent position, because your continued existance is based on learning
more, not maintaining your current position...

i'm sure there are others who disagree, but i've been doing it for years and can say, if it's $$ that you're
interested in, and less interview hassle, contracting is not a bad place to try your hand...

good luck

magnus