I say go for it. The only way you will know if you like it or not is to give it a try. If you contributed to the G.I. Bill, then it shouldn't cost you very much out-of-pocket to do part 61 training. 141 training will cost you because it is more expensive then at a local FBO. As long as you continue your education at a college, you can continue to recieve your G.I. Bill benefits on a monthly basis and use some of that on flight training.

My guess is that you should be able to live nicely off your retirement. If you contributed to TSP then you shouldn't struggle financially while in training. The industry will get better. Whether its now or a few years from now is irrelavant for at this moment since you're just getting into training. Its going to be at least 3 years before you can start edging the mins. for regional work and thats if you CFI. At anytime you can always quit flying professionally and still hold the ratings to enjoy during your well deserved retirement.

If you find flying is too unpredictable, but you still like working in the industry, there are always non-flying jobs such as dispatching, station managers up to upper management like director of flight ops or V.P. of a department. Flying can lead to a number of other jobs like working for FAA or corporate route. Bottom line, opinnions are great. I ask for opinnions in these forums all the time. It dosen't mean I have to follow what people say good or bad. Use it as guidance in your decision, but only you can decide. I try not to have regrets, so if you think you might regret it if you don't try it, hey you only live once.

Just my two cents.