I am in the UK, and as I understand it, its only costs a few £100 to setup a PLC (private limited company) - the main overhead is that you have to post you accounts each year to companies house (which probably means you have to pay an accountant to help you).

It certainly is some hassle, but there are companies that will set it all up for you I believe. If you own a house or have significant savings I would certainly want them protected from some chancer who has decided you have infringed some patent or lost his data to hackers or stolen his idea etc. Defending something like this could be very expensive, so it may be easier to just close up shop and keep your day job!