In my experience I have found it more difficult to work less days and take holidays as a contractor. The company that is paying for your services expects complete short term dedication on delivering the project, and that is what you should provide. You can take longer breaks between contracts but again I have found that not to be the case as you always want to have more work lined up for a steady income stream.

I can understand that. You do need leverage to negotiate such a deal - a niche skill, or familiarity with an existing codebase.

Does that come with health insurance and a 401k? I'm very risk averse.

No, you can usually increase your billable rate to make up for that difference. If for example your current salary would be $100k/2080 (work hours in a year) you'd be getting paid $48/hr. You'd likely set your contracting rate at at least $60/hr to make up for the difference or no PTO, insurance, 401k, etc.

Also in the US, tack on an additional 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare taxes that would normally be paid by the employer, which is now technically yourself.

> Social Security and Medicare taxes

Why do they show up as being deducted from your salary in your statements then?

Because as a W2 employee you pay half and your employer pays half. As a W9 employee (contractor), you pay both.

It does come with a 401k, and you buy your own health insurance.

Which isn't terribly different than being employed. Your employer probably pays 80% of your health insurance premium and you pay the rest. It's all just part of your comp package that you need to sort out if you decide to start a consulting business.