I get what you guys are saying about losing ones medical and not being able to fly, but.......I thought that almost every major, LCC, and even a lot of regionals have "same occupation" LTD insurance to guard against exactly what so many are talking about.
http://www.aviationcareerspodcast.co...irline-pilots/
If a recall, wasn't sufficient SO LTD to age 65 one of the big wins in the new contract at Spirit?
Don't get me wrong, its still one of my worst nightmares, and it'd be heartbreaking to be faced with such an event and not be able to fly, but you are still getting paid 50-70% of your previous salary, often until age 65.
Of course, you absolutely won't live a cushy life this way, but to over dramatize how destitute you'll be if you lose your medical seems a bit too much.
Furthermore, I really think as one of the previous posters alluded to, that most jobs outside of aviation could care less what your degree is in. As with the airlines, a lot of my non-pilot friends have told me that the degree is mostly a "box to check" in fields other than medicine, engineering, etc, but we knew that.