Just remember that middle age should be your peak earning years. If you're not earning much then, your eventual retirement can be on the sparse side. Even if you've been flying for decades, you'll end up staring retirement in the face with no retirement fund, other than what you can fund yourself from your wages. I've been flying since 1968, and if I had it all to do over again I'd get into computer science and stay as far from helicopters as I could. Unfortunately, computer science wasn't a very prominent field back then, and Uncle Sam was willing to train just about anyone who was willing to fly helicopters, so here I am. I still enjoy flying, most of the time, but some sort of retirement beyond Social Security and the small 401(k) plan the company started far too late would be nice. I could lose my medical certificate at any time, and be unemployed and virtually unemployable, short of retirement age. It happens to pilots I know all the time. It's still true, the best way to make a small fortune in aviation is to start with a very large fortune. You won't earn one flying, I can guarantee you that.