Quote from WorkingSlave:
is it possible that someone could give me a little insight into how their life changed for the better or worse since leaving a salaried position? Examples could be health benefits lost, financial freedom gained.
Yeah, I quit and basically was on the "poverty line" for about 6 months before I managed to raise enough capital to trade. I lived in a friend's loft (not a loft apartment, but an actual loft - no insulation or furniture, sleeping in a sleeping bag on the timbers, and a fan heater to keep the cold out) for £20 a week, and spent about £5 a week on pasta and tinned food, and probably another £20 a week on beer, and a fiver for a Financial Times subscription. Many people might think it would be a nightmare trying to live on £50 a week but actually you have pretty much all the essentials and I don't notice any major difference in quality of life or happiness compared to later years when I had reasonable money. Sex, socialising, public libraries, working out, and (nowadays) surfing the internet are basically free, after all.
Once I had raised money and started trading, things were very nice, much better than working a job. The best thing is being able to have total work creativity - if you have an idea, you can implement it as soon as you do the work, and if it's a good one you will see results (that's the beauty of trading). You don't have to persuade some boss that it's a good move to risk customer money on this new technique you spotted but can't necessarily articulate sufficiently smoothly for the investment committee. At my prior job, a small trading firm, it was a nightmare trying to get them to do anything new. Another thing when you work for yourself at something you enjoy is you don't really notice the hours, because it's not "work". I used to catch the first train at around 5:15am, and get one back at 930pm after the US close, but I didn't really feel any problem with it. At that stage, when I had no savings, making £1k in a week or occasionally a day felt like a huge amount of money.
If you are thinking of things like health benefits then maybe you just have the wrong mentality to go it alone. Most people in human history have not had health benefits, or even freedom from war, famine, government oppression and disease. There's this thing called risk and if you want to stay wrapped in a security blanket all your life, don't quit the corporate grind. No health benefit will save your ass from cancer or a heart attack, and if you look at most people they are fat fucks by 40 anyway. Quite why people think of health plans when they won't even eat and exercise properly, and booze and smoke, is beyond me. Just remember that the main security you are getting from an employer is the security of pissing away your life and freedom mostly for someone else's benefit. Someone to whom you are just a cog in a machine, easily replaced when your time is up. You only live once, so if you really want to work for yourself in a field you are passionate about, you should do it right now, not sit twiddling your thumbs.
The problem with analysing the pros and cons is that there is inherent risk and insecurity in taking a chance. You can *never* be sure it will work out, and you are very unlikely to ever see a good opportunity that doesn't have a scary downside. Yet no one ever achieved something great without taking a risk or two along the way. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon he had no idea if he would succeed or end up being defeated, paraded through Rome and then executed - and in fact after getting the glory he ended up assassinated, and a failure as ruler. Yet he still went across, saying "Let the dice be cast" - he took the gamble. And gambling with some capital is a lot less nerve-wracking than gambling with your life. Most people aren't suited to it, as you can see from the negative replies on this thread.
So, my recommendation would be stop analysing it, and look into your heart. Either you want it - *really* want it - or you don't. If you do, then analysis is irrelevant - just quit on Monday, hand in your notice immediately, and go for it. If that scares you too much then most likely you aren't committed enough to do it.
