Lowtimer, I see your reasoning toward a secondary career in health because it makes financial sense. But entering a field with so little latent interest in it seems folly to me. I won't comment on airline flying since I am not in that business, but I find a happy medium between wanting to be a career pilot and the well known vicissitudes of the airline industry by designing aircraft systems for a living during the day, and teaching flying in my spare time. The engineering business is tedious at times true, but it is interesting, lucrative, steady, and sufficiently rewarding. I think you should consider a degree in something like aerospace engineering as a backup because 1) you need a backup if you want to be a pilot, and 2) many of the better pilots in and outside the airline industry have an engineering background.