Economists find job market data hard to pin down (good info, irritating situation)

USA Today (actual print edition posted online) ^ | Jan. 30, 2004 | Barbara Hagenbaugh

[litany_of_lies]

Your perspective is incorrect, to put it mildly.

Though the cost savings involved in a home office deduction, less commuting (possibly), and a few other items can be significant, they are DWARFED by the following:
- Having to pay BOTH the employer and employee portion of Social Security and Medicare (after a small deduction, it works out to about 13% of business income vs. the 7.65% withheld when you are employed).
- Having to pay the entire freight for health insurance unless a spouse has family coverage at work (that's $5,000-$8,000 a year for family coverage, and you can still have pre-existing conditions excluded).
- (Hard to quantify) Having full responsibility for your own retirement (vs. sometimes having a pension plan or at least usually having a 401(k) with an employer match at your job).

There are other additional costs, but those three are the monsters, unless you have to run your business at an office instead of at home. Then you have a whole new set of expenses.

If you can't get your business to a level of profit that is consistently AT LEAST 20%-25% more than what you were making when you were an employee, you're better off as an employee.