Quote from romik:
Working hard in McDs 100 hours a week can get one a starting capital, go to a prop firm, reduce working hours/increase studying hours, in due time there is a chance of substantially increasing capital. Just look @ Lescor/Tvardek/Millenium/Rearden/others. Bottom line, as long as there is a goal, working hard can get one on a way to financial independence. If a person enjoys his trade he will dedicate many more hours to it anyway, whether he will continue benefiting more by spending more time on research I couldn't say, depends.