I've been doing consulting for a few years (4+) and quit a few 9-5 jobs during that time. Frankly, consulting full time offers great pay and a boatload of flex

I've been doing consulting for a few years (4+) and quit a few 9-5 jobs during that time. Frankly, consulting full time offers great pay and a boatload of flexibility. For a long time I went through firms and they ate 20-30% of my "profits" although they dealt with the billing and finding work, which is worth quite a bit. Lately I've been on my own though. My startup activities are limited to at night (after the kid's in bed) and some time on weekends which does put a damper on things, but it also makes me more efficient and since I can think more (like when driving to a client) I tend to make less mistakes. And I echo what aagha said, incorporate early. Some clients don't do 1099, only corp-to-corp. There are some tax benefits to an SCorp as well (you can take a salary which you pay employement tax for and then take distributions which are not employment taxed). I probably would have saved $30k over the last couple years if I'd incorporated rather than been 1099.