>What I get instead is FREEDOM, and I love it, and have for nearly 25 years.

Freedom...well yes. But with that comes a lot of responsibility.

>Being a self starter, as there is no one there to tell you to get out of bed and get your work done.

Very true. I consider myself a self starter, but since I actually LIKE what I do this makes it a lot eaiser.

>Being willing to invest money and time in yourself to continue your work (no company to pay for those Devcon's, fees, etc.'s).

Yep...time AND money. And hey - those Devcon's and such are non-billable hours - so suddenly these get REAL expensive to attend.

>Realizing you never have an income maximum limit - the sky is the limit, its all in your own hands. Someone has said the definition of a "job" is "just-over-broke" and I guess I don't want to live that way.

mmmmm...well I've always figured there was a maximum - unless you hire employees. There are only so many hours in the month.

>Being a good money manager. Since no company is paying for your insurance or retirement plan, it's important that money is earmarked for those. A person who works for themself should be saving at least twice what a person who works a corporate job should, and that should be no problem as the income potential is so much greater.

Yeah... and I'm not as good at this as I should be. Based on my current calcualations, I should be able to retire when I'm about 627 years old.

>It's not always easy, but it has been a great life for my family and I, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I think it's worth it. Being able to sit all afternoon at the beach and then spend 5pm till 6am or 7am programming is not something too many corp jobs that are going to let you do.