...well personally I was called to do this. I denied it for a long time but I am the most satisfied in the cockpit. I might own a machine one day but I will never do a job that removes me from my natural environment ie: management.
I will never stop flying until they just don't let me anymore.
To "make" it you need to be 110% obsessed with getting where you want to go. You need to expect to go without for long periods and you rarely spend a minute without thinking about when you will get your opportunity. You always must believe that it will happen or it simply won't.
Age is almost irrelevant. Want is most important. If you are 40 you still have up to 25yrs of flying in you. Take away 5 for getting going and you have 20 years to work. So what's the issue. If you favour a comfortable life, big screen TV, wants rather than needs, a fancy car and house etc.... over waking each morning to enjoy going to work then IT is for you. I recommend you avoid polluting our industry. You will only complain incessently. Not that we need to make things better but our value system is different to regular jobs. This is all about lifestyle not retirement.
No offence, but all the ex-IT guys that I have flown with don't make great pilots. The really good ones are the ex-plumbers, electricians, mechanics, draughtsmen, builders, carpenters, farmers etc and the odd ringer
These guys seem to not mind getting their hands dirty or putting up with a lot of crap to get ahead.
Just an observation from the other side.....