I work 40+ hours a week, I'm a drilling reservist, I have a wife and kids, I'm enrolled full-time in college, and I still find time to learn about programming,

I work 40+ hours a week, I'm a drilling reservist, I have a wife and kids, I'm enrolled full-time in college, and I still find time to learn about programming, design, network security, and a wide variety of other topics. My ability to learn new things is only hindered by the amount of time I spend playing videogames. A job won't stop you from learning to code. A job also won't stop you from launching a start-up. I suggest that if you are broke, find a job and continue working until you actually have an idea that seems marketable. Sorry to sound blunt, but if you are in financial trouble, you seriously need to just start working again, even if you have to take a worse job than you had before. If you don't need money immediately, try thinking of problems that you had as an electrical engineer that can be solved by software. Do the same thing for any other niches that you are familiar with. Many successful companies succeeded by solving problems that their founders experienced while working in another domain.