It's the right thing to do even for Splat in his 40s, people spend silly money on cars these days anbd how long does that last 3-4 years? People spend money on all manner of other things in and around the home most of them non essential so a type rating has financial comparison with them straight away. The most significant point is that of 'investment' where it is actually quite viable in my eyes considering the DEFO payscales even the lower ranges and this will feedback and supersede the initial cost outlay. After all many people spend a small fortune in time, money and resource studying for their MBA we had a chap here at work do that recently and I don't really see many benefits for him.
There seems to be a romantic notion as a flight instructor that has to pay an over the top price for his initial FI rating and then made to work for a degrading salary. However that's acceptable because it's seen by the senior figures in aviation to be the tried and tested path. This might have been the case in the past but we're now in the present and a 21st century timeline and an aspiring pilot needs to be more flexible in his/her outlook and on their toes rather than the slow, sedate, 'we'll eventually get there' attitude of old flight training paths. Splat did the right thing not only on a personal level but inadvertently against the grain of the training establishment.
He made the right move and the airline that employed him clearly finds his route acceptable. It seems to the fuddy old FTOs that are increasingly singing from the wrong hym sheets whereas airlines in the very real world of cost and ever increasing influence of business parameters know what works and what doesn't.