Employment: Which do you think is better?

From a tax standpoint I did much better self-employed 15-20 years ago but I believe some of those loopholes have been closed, such as home-office deductions. I wound up paying a 14-percent overall tax rate on an income (reported :hihi:) of about 38K in 1994-5. I also liked the freedom of working from home, but I found my boss was still an idiot at times :ezbill:

On the other hand terps, 15-20 years ago self employed got hosed by taxes in a number of ways. For example, health insurance coverage for an employee was not taxable, but a self employed health premium was taxed. The employer contribution to social security for an employee is not taxed, but back then the half contribution by a self employed person which would normally be paid by an employer was taxed. Tax on your social security tax! Those two taxes chapped my *** until the law was changed.

Self employment is great but in reality everyone "works" for someone. The self employed are subject to the whims of their customers, but on balance it's better than being subject to the whims of a boss.