I dunno', Phil - I feel like you maybe never had a boss in the "I own you" sense of the title. Maybe you did in the military, I don't know. But for me - the difference between pleasing customers and pleasing a boss was the difference between really liking what I do and hating to get up in the morning.
It took about two weeks for me to be completely wrecked for working for somebody else. Of course there are people to answer to - there always will be. There's a difference, though, between answering to people and being bound by them. The more independent I get, the more I enjoy my life.
I agree about the car, though. Life slips away - someday it's too late to enjoy the thing you've been waiting for.