45 years in any career is a long time, especially given the rate of change in the world is ever increasing. Automation is going to be a career ender across many professions, including transportation. Will cargo still be moved around the world when your local 3d printer can manufacture just about any product instantly and deliver it to your door via an autonomous vehicle? Will people still travel to Orlando when you can replicate exactly the experience, right down to the sweat and mosquitoes, of Disney through virtual reality? I don’t know why people are still traveling for business right today with how easy video conferencing is.

In some ways I don’t envy your generation. It no longer takes decades of slow evolution to change your world, it’s happening in years or months. Cool times to live in, but not predictable at all. If I had to guess, I would say you are fairly safe in your choice of an aviation career, although you would likely end of your career an aviation world much different than what we have today. That might not mean you are still physically sitting in a cockpit. Look into the military aviation route if you have any interest in serving - leadership skills are always transferable and veteran status gets a foot in the door in any field.

Anyone who thinks having a 20-year old degree with no relevant work experience is a useful backup plan is fooling themselves

This^^^^^^

Exactly what I was trying to say

Get whatever degree you want (even aviation), use insurance products to enable you to retrain for a new career in case of health problems. That’s your backup plan

That’s actually a good point.