Would you rather make $200k doing nothing or take a job that pays $500k

[Adam Griffin]

I would take the $200k/year and then use my free time to volunteer full-time with politics and other charitable deeds as I saw fit.

Years 1-5: Live somewhat well with a lifestyle of $100,000 per year and saving $100,000 per year in order to invest it via a medium risk/yield stock portfolio

Years 6-15: The interest from the investment (7% annualized; $35,000 per year) by itself would finance a middle class lifestyle on its own in perpetuity, but I'd instead use that to live modestly for the next ten years, saving the entirety of my original $200k annual income

Year 16: With the annual income of $200k being invested in safer investments from Year 6 onward, it will have kept up with inflation and be worth approximately $2.5-3 mil in 2015 dollars, making me a multi-millionaire without any significant responsibilities. Perhaps at this point I'd be bored enough with what I was doing to take on more serious responsibilities (from the perspective of business) and buy/operate  a business to enhance my income and live more lavishly from then on out