other things to consider...Health Insurance(expensive if you to pay for ALL of it, esp in good ol NY)..you will now be paying both sides of FICA(15.3%)...3 of us started our own firm back in 2000, after working for a large corp'n for 2...things are going well for us..if you do get into a partnership with others, make sure you have the same ideas about where the biz will be going...