Going the contract route

[Crusader911]

The company I'm working for is failing. We have laid off about 2/3 of our work force and closed several offices. I have already survived one office closure, but I think my current office will close within 3 months, and despite my technical competence I don't know whether I will survive the next one. I am actively looking for a job, while doing everything I can to keep the one I have. As a PE-licensed mechanical engineer, do I need to incorporate myself in order to protect my personal assets from liability while accepting contract positions? What type of corporation is best for a one-man engineering firm? I was looking into LLC's, but I read that there were some tax disadvantages that I couldn't quite comprehend. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[TheTick]

If you are just a contract drone working through a contract firm, you are protected as an employee of the contract firm (in states I have worked).

 

[KENAT]

forum784 may be a better place for this, in fact I'm pretty sure similar has been asked and answered before.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[tbenj]

I opted for an S-Corp to lower the self-employment tax and social security tax. Plus you can pass any losses through to offset tax on personal income.

Here's a pretty good starting point:

http://hubpages.com/hub/What-are-th...-an-S-Corporation-and-How-do-I-Form-an-S-Corp