The problem with starting late in life in this industry is low starting pay, steep training learning curves, and low quality of life for about 10 years while building up your logbook. I did the reverse and changed careers from aviation to finance after realizing I'd much rather do something where it didn't require me to sell out of everything else in life.
I flew with career changers who had a pile of money saved up, then spend it all on flight training, then starting living off of credit cards while their spouse and young children waited for them to come home from being days away at a time. While a corporate job requires commitment just like anything else, the level of commitment for flying requires a certain amount of passion for the industry to be able to sacrifice everything else.
When people ask me if they should fly, I always recommend that you obtain your Private Pilot License, as it's relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things. Just fly for fun. Some of the most memorable flying I ever did was in a Citabria, not a EMB-145.
I've only ever seen one exception to starting a flight career late in life, and it was a family friend who previously flew F-4's in the Navy, then started his own successful real estate business to the point where he could afford to take time off to fly. At the age of 50, he was able to squeeze through airline training and flew for about a year until they tried to get him to drive to some reserve assignment several hours away. He quit on the spot and it didn't matter, because he just went back to his business full-time. If you've sold a business and are wealthy and bored, sure, this might be an interesting diversion. But for those still trying to save up for retirement? Get your recreational licenses and have fun with those. Flying professionally is rigid and systematic in comparison anyway.