Without have further information, I would strongly lean on the side of taking the bank offer. At 200k per year, you can create independent trading opportunities later on in life. At some point, you can have enough funds and knowledge stashed away to realize your dream. I run a small prop shop and can tell you that it is possible for an individual trader to make 200k or more, but it takes a lot of mentoring and a flexible mind (sorry, I'm not hiring ). Most prop shops, as you may have noticed, don't provide any guidance past the first month of sim trading or whatever they "promise" as training. Been there... done that while struggling to learn. If this were my dilemma, I would stay with the High Yield business and take a good portion of my income to teach myself to trade end of day. You may allocate $25,000 after doing a lot of studying and begin trading 1-lots in the market of your choice. Don't do anything without a proper business plan. Act as if you are writing a proposal to borrow money from yourself. This is what it takes to improve your odds. You seem well suited for a longer term perspective, so you won't have to bleed quickly. It will take a fair amount more to really be successful and independent, but you will have first hand experience struggling to get there and your high-paying job can support this exercise. Best wishes on fulfilling your desires. Good luck.
Thanks a lot guys, your comments were really helpful... I will think another week before taking a decision...