Is the work you will be doing on these "interesting projects" the thing you would pick if you were a multimillionaire and didn't have to work?
If not making as much as you possibly can, with the lowest living standard you can get away with is a better bet imo. I can't imagine any place letting me work on what I want when I want to all the time, and even if there were such a place what happens when I invent something? My name is on a list with a bunch of other mostly unrelated people?
If money were no obstacle I'd still be working on similar projects. The "interesting projects" are things which are on the outside of the envelope of what we currently think of as possible. Making progress on interesting projects means expanding the scope of human endeavor.
If not making as much as you possibly can, with the lowest living standard you can get away with is a better bet imo. I can't imagine any place letting me work on what I want when I want to all the time, and even if there were such a place what happens when I invent something? My name is on a list with a bunch of other mostly unrelated people?