I am going to faced with a lot of opposition for this post, but here goes:
I am not sure that kollel is necessarily the ideal. The concept of Torah Im Derech Eretz, although abused by people using to twist it for their own gain (see Torah U’Madda), believes that working is the ideal although it must always be “subserviant” if you will, to Torah study.
It is interesting, but the more one becomes a “lifer,” the less L’shmah his torah becomes. The businessman/lawyer/doctor who drags himself up in the morning to learn, and after a tiring day, drags himself back at night, is on an infinitely higher level than the “Lifer.”