[ElysianEagle]

I worked contract for a while in NYC. The pay was great but the contract was abruptly terminated with just a few days notice about a year or so in. I landed on my feet but don't think I'd go contract again because as a single individual things can get pretty stressful, as you mentioned.

It seems to work pretty nicely, however, if you have a partner that has a stable, full-time gig while you work contract. The full-time gig usually has higher stability + health benefits, while the contract gig brings in more money. Also, if your contract is suddenly gone, at least you don't have to jump into survival mode ASAP since there's still money comin in.

That's the most common arrangment I noticed among my contractor peers at least, at the time.

The other thing I learned was that I was only entitled to unemployment support if I had been on a W-2 sometime in the previous two years in NY. While this was not the case for me, fortunately, I had been in CA on a W-2 so I qualified for unemployment from CA. Had I been contracting for more than two years straight, that support would not have been available. Something to keep in mind.

Agree with all else you mentioned, though.

[jimmydddd]

Re: Having a partner with a "stable" coporate job.

I agree that this is helpful. When I was looking into going solo/freelancing in the legal field, I asked several solo lawyers how they provided health benefits for their families. All of them said that their spouse had a corporate job with good benefits.