I'm 55 and after a 21 year career with Verizon was retired out the door. Two weeks later in December of 2009 I started ab initio at a flight school in Southern California, got my Private in February, my Instrument in May, my Commercial in July and my CFI/CFII in November. I'm now working full time as an instructor at about a third of what I was making at Verizon but I'm flying a plane and not a desk. Good luck, everything I hear about the next ten years is positive in terms of pilot and instructor demand.