So I'm a bit earlier than you are in age, but have chosen a *very* long path. I have a BA, and a JD. I practiced law for almost 9 years. I wasn't happy, and I really didn't think there would be a happy place for me in law after a lot of soul searching. At 34, I started taking pre-medical classes. I'm more than half way done with the pre-med requirements now. I apply to med school next year. I will be 45-46 when I finish residency. I do not have *any* regrets now. I would rather do this and have 15 happy years working than to have the 20-25 years in a career I wasn't passionate about.

I was worried about losing more than 10 years in the workforce, and the impact of that on my retirement. But....I'll be making a higher salary as a doc - so it should all even out. DH and I have also made a lot of decisions (like selling our house) that make the finances work now. We are setting up good spending habits that we intend to keep - and the plan is to live well beneath our means so that we will still be able to save sufficiently for retirement. It's how we want to live anyway (smaller house, not an extravagant life at all).

My biggest concern was that my DH will likely have to hold off on any college-type things until I am done, and the strain that might put on our relationship. We have had several honest talks, and he is OK with the situation. He is also not 100% sure what he wants to do at the moment, so that helps. He also works in academia, so he is involved in research in his field, even if he isn't in school.

I was also worried that I would fail organic chemistry. That didn't happen, thankfully!