[stevage]

That's interesting. My experience has been the opposite on all four points.

- My total pay in the first year was about 30% higher than when salaried, and will probably be 50% higher this year.

- Most of my projects are way more interesting than when salaried.

- I've never had to chase down any payments. I've instead been chased down to invoice a couple of times!

- I have never put any effort into finding clients.

[OJFord]

> My total pay in the first year was about 30% higher than when salaried

With or without benefits/bonuses/... factored in?

[gk1]

Not the person you asked, but... Yes. If you do things right and get a little lucky, you can make much more as a freelancer or consultant.

[mtberatwork]

> If you do things right and get a little lucky, you can make much more as a freelancer or consultant.

In the short term, but is it reproducible for the long term? How does the 10, 20, 30 year outlook look like? From my vantage point, it seems that most freelancers have pretty short shelf life.

[vitaflo]

When started contracting (I never use the term freelancing cuz I don't work for free) I was making 4x what I made as a salaried employee. I've been contracting for 10 years now, and have averaged about 35 hours per week billable over that time. It has been very lucrative.

The problem for most folks is they just don't build the network to get gigs, especially long term ones. The freelancer that takes 2 week projects is going to flame out quickly because there's too much churn. My minimum contract length now is 3 months and that almost always turns into a 6-9 month gig in the end. And my network is large enough now that I never have to look for gigs. I turn down way more gigs than I take.

I realize I'm in the minority, but it is possible, especially if you carry yourself as a business and not just as a hired hand. When you do that, companies look at you differently, and your value to them increases.

[gk1]

I am at 5 years and still going strong.

Does anyone know what they'll be doing in 20 or 30 years?

[OJFord]

I'm sure one _can_, I only meant to hint that '30% more' isn't obviously better. 30% more than base (and nothing more) would not be a good deal for a lot of people.