Over the last 10 years I've done a mix of freelance development, developed my own products and also been a salaried employee. I can honestly say on reflection

Over the last 10 years I've done a mix of freelance development, developed my own products and also been a salaried employee. I can honestly say on reflection that the overall stress level is about the same, but what stresses the self-employed (income variation) is different to what stresses the salaried (deadlines and dependence on others to get things done). I've come to the conclusion that a persons stress level is something in their nature and there are deeper questions to answer if you're feeling stressed. Having been on all sides of the fence, I can definitely say that none of them have the greenest grass, but all the grass is eaten in a different way. Freedom is awesome and liberating, but that type of freedom denotes a level of success (and lifestyle/workload design). It's also a slippery beast to capture. Because if you fall short and end up working for bad clients on short deadlines for not enough cash, then you're going to be twice as stressed as a salaried employee getting ridden by their boss for TPS reports. What's it all mean? Don't do anything without looking at it seriously, and don't assume the other guy is having a great time of it. And don't get into too much debt, regardless of your circumstance.