I'll chime in. I'm 48, and I've had a great career in academia. I'm currently professoring at a university somewhere in Britain, - I won't tell you where. I teach a humanities subject; nothing to do with STEM.
I've just finished my ATPL theory, and I'm about to throw in the teaching and dive headfirst into the world of CPL MEP IR. I'm doing dual, UK/EASA, just because I can. I do have both medicals and both PPLs; and I did dual theory.
I'm on about 600 hours, most of them in aerobatic aeroplanes (and gliders before that). Like
secondtimearound , I've very little interest in the world of airliners. I'd be delighted to teach, but I know that won't cover my outgoings, - even given that my adult son has moved out (and now earns a lot more than I ever did, as an IT guy in finance), and my mortgage has been almost paid off.
I've done the sums, I need about 60K a year to be comfortable. 50K is probably the minimum. I could live on.
So what are my options? My initial thoughts are: instructing for CPL MEP IR, survey, playing the bad guys for the RAF with Draken, taking people up in Spitfires and suchlike, if I can break into that business. Possibly corporate. Possibly running some sort of aviation micro-business.
I'm very lucky because I have lots of connections in the world of non-airliner aviation. I feel I just need to put one foot in front of the other, and then something will come up.
And even if it doesn't, - I can always dust off my suede patches and go back to academia. I don't have suede patches, but you know what I mean.
Now please, Pprune, tell me that I'm wrong and I'm wasting my time and money! :-)