I'm 41. I started programming on a C64 when I was about 10 and then started with c++ when I was 14 on an 8088 but quickly convinced my neighbor to give me her 2

I'm 41. I started programming on a C64 when I was about 10 and then started with c++ when I was 14 on an 8088 but quickly convinced my neighbor to give me her 286 she wasn't using in exchange for mowing her lawn for a Summer. Most of my life has been financial apps for banks and finance companies. Business "process" apps too. I am currently switching from game development (last 5 years) to quant finance. I am doing this by getting EPAT and also returning to school part-time for Economics. I maintain my focus by thinking about what got me into writing code in the first place. I loved it. When I was about 8 I remember my Saturday mornings being spent typing in BASIC code from "The Gazette" magazine while drinking chocolate milk and eating powdered doughnuts (Spaulding Kruellers!). I would type in, debug my mistakes and eagerly wait for the final result. Then I would try and change the code to my own liking. Save it to a cassette and move on. When we got a floppy drive I was in heaven, side note :-) So, my advice. If you love what you are doing then that is all that matters. If you can't find a way to pay the bills with it then do it on the side, continue to love it and things will fall into place in the future. Even if I am writing code for a company, I don't write the code for them, I write it for myself, I do my best work for myself. Then I do it again on the next project (Yes, I know it is really their code and not mine...but....)