I have seen similar calculations discussed many times on HN. Usually the suggestion is to charge 2x your salary. So if you would usually make 150K per year, the

I have seen similar calculations discussed many times on HN. Usually the suggestion is to charge 2x your salary. So if you would usually make 150K per year, then charge 150$/hr to make up for the self-employment taxes, health insurance expenses and other things. But does this really work in practise. What I have usually seen is that the client usually pays in that range 125-150 /hr. But then a huge chunk of that is eaten up by the middlemen - companies like Randstad, KForce, Adecco, Robert-Half et. al. In the end, you are barely left with 70-85$/hr at which point consulting makes no sense and it is better to go full-time becase you get better health insurance from the company rather than buying it from the marketplace.