"And the stress involved in working for myself is so much less that that of working for a PHB... I could never go back."

I found this to be exactly the reverse in my case. Even when the company I work for has problems with payroll, the stress is trivial compared to the stress of running my own business. I'm working an 8-5 job right now after years of startup/small-business life, and ~45 hours a week feels like a constant vacation.