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Mode of carry is up to the individual carrying. The decision involves aspects of everyday safety as well as utility in need.

Regarding everyday safety, carrying fully loaded (with one in the chamber) is no issue as long as you follow some basic safety protocols. ALWAYS keep your finger (or anything else that might actuate the trigger) off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. To help ensure this happens, holsters typically fully cover the trigger guard and trigger. ALWAYS keep firearms pointed in a safe direction (at things that you don't terribly mind damaging). Many folks remove their gun from their holster only occasionally -- often removing or rearming with holster and gun together -- and then only where they can do so while keeping it pointed in a safe direction. As NotRPB points out above, proper unloading procedure (remove ammunition feeding source first, THEN remove round from chamber) should always be followed prior to cleaning / inspecting any firearm.

From the utility standpoint, note that it takes time (that you may or may not have) and additional manipulation of the gun to load the chamber. To accomplish this under duress without fail takes training and practice. To do so under attack the training and practice requirements increase dramatically. Some questions that come to mind: How much time will I have to draw the gun (how much time does it take me to)? In an attack, will I have the use of both arms to manipulate the gun, or might I need one to fend off the attacker with one arm? Might one arm be injured to the point that I cannot use it before or while I am drawing the gun?

My answers to each of these questions is "I don't know", so my mode of carry is fully loaded, and I do everything I can to ensure that safety is on my mind any time the firearm is touched, and that I train and practice to deal with as many different variables as I can think of. YMMV, of course.