Look into a prop. firm, members do not pay self employment taxes but you will still be out of pocket for health care.
you may be secure with your trading, etc., but trading without a job may cause you to realize that you needed more money or more time/preparation or more resources that you imagined. Depending on your trading to pay all your bills is called "scared money"
Give it a dry run before taking the big step. You also will need a good gym to go workout at and release the stress build up as well as maintain your physical health. If you have any bad habits get rid of them before you do the deed, and since you're so concerned about going stir crazy I recommend you join a group ... any group will do, so that you can keep your contact going with people. Assuming you're only beholden to yourself, you're going to need at least a years worth of rent as well as medical/dental coverage in place. Do the work before hand so that you don't get caught short afterwards.
Well, if that were true, then only the wealthy could become wealthy. After paper trading my way to confidence in my systems, I started with $1,000 in my first cash account. Traded two futures contracts and have never looked back. Possibly, nokomisjeff was trying to make the point about needing adequate capital. Well, I didn't do that either because it wasn't available. You play the cards you are dealt.
Your trader friends probably haven't experienced the inevitible drawdowns that real people have, if they even exist. Anybody that's been in the business for anytime knows that drawdowns are part of trading. Even with a million bucks in an account, if one made 200K/annum over the long haul, they'd be be snapped up by a fund. 20% returns are big, by the way. I'm surprised that Goldman hasn't given your friends with $50K in their accounts, half of the company for free to trade Goldman's account. Those returns that you describe aren't sustainable over the long run. Ggoyal, I'll chalk up your false bravado to your own inexperience. Jeff