As has been mentioned this is all about expectations and sometimes false expectations. Angrywife in your situation your partner is quite older than most wannabes starting out therefore what I'm about to relate probably doesn't apply but because money (or the lack of it post training) is likely to be the root cause of your concern, I'll say it anyway.
I attained my PPL at age 18 with very high hopes of going commercial before 21. I even missed out on a degree because I was that eager! I'm now approaching 26 and currently in the middle of preparing for my ATPL exams. The big gap was due to a change of heart (post 9/11) realising that the world was not such an innocent place and that war, debt, lack of opportunities and economic turndown were all realities that could put me in a really bad position. I also had a medical scare (which thankfully is a distant memory now) which made me very quickly realise the fragility of any career as an Airline Pilot. All this forced me to look at other careers and I found one. Very quickly earning a respectable salary (£45k) which you'll agree is fantastic for someone in their mid-20s (you see flyboy1818 degrees are really not required to increase your salary; make one more intelligent; or to appear much more hard working!).
A couple of years ago I fell in love with the idea again (as it was the only thing I dreamt of as a child) so decided to enroll onto a distance learning program and complete my commercial training. Making slow progress now because I have all the baggage of a settled man but I'm financially stable and my expectations I think are good. In a nutshell I do not mind one bit if my first commercial opportunity comes at age 30.
I've seen far too many people who consider flying to be the only skill they need in life. People who are happy to skip learning another trade because they see flying as their only career. This to the point that they are quite happy seeing themselves flipping burgers whilst waiting for a flying job. My advice: NEVER EVER want this career by thinking it will be your one and only. Because for a lot of people it never is. Make sure there is another trade which excites you and that can comfortably bring food home on to the table and help you repay your loans and mortgage/rent. This, before, during and after your flight training. Providing you do this, you will not have any sense of urgency or desparation. However, age is not on Mr Angry's side and this is something I'm sure he knew about before he started.
As much as one may love the idea of a flying career as a first and only career, it is getting increasingly obvious that those who do not have experience in another field or after training do not plan to go back to it for the indefinite future will struggle (with loans and life's expenses in general after training) and become impatient (often losing the will to live). Best of luck to both of you.
Last edited by Superpilot; 11th Mar 2007 at 16:42.