To old for a new career?

[Pikantari]

Originally Posted by Cabe09

I was over 40 when I became an RN. Now I am 50 and going into accounting. You're never too old!

This lends me hope because I am on the front office end of medical and want to go into the back office end...

I am 35, btw.

[brightdoglover]

As an RN, I wanted to work at a new federal prison hospital near my house. They said the maximum age for starting was 35 because the job was technically "federal law enforcement." They had some apparently brutal one-month boot camp thing- a 30-year-old male nurse I know started it and quit after a week.
Now, 12 years later, the same prison hospital is again advertising for RNs, emphasizing "no age limits." I guess they had to make the change because they just weren't able to get young 'uns out in central Mass. My timing is impeccable- now that I'm not too old, I'm vested in a very good pension plan elsewhere, although I always keep "Plan B/C/D" in the back of my mind.
One of my co-workers is in RN school. He's 68. He'll be 70 when he finishes. Former IT guy, current mental health assistant.
I've seen RNs in their 60s, new ones. Mostly guys.
It's never too late unless the job is defined by age, like law enforcement or military reserves. The Army Medical Reserves was eager to have me at age 38. Too old for the Navy Reserves (although they wanted me full-time because I have an MPH) and the Air Force found me too old and no BSN.
Of course, you have to consider the general field you're going into, the atmosphere (or the company). An older IT person likely wouldn't get hired as a new person in a start-up full of 20-somethings, and so on. You might not want to train for something that is physically demanding later in life. For instance, I've thought of becoming a vet tech. The place I looked at, which might train a people RN (state with no licensing requirements) required that their vet techs be able to lift 100 pounds. They don't need a new vet tech pushing 60 with a bad back.