[msb]

This is me. I am 43, entering my fourth year of PhD. If you have money saved and want to challenge yourself in new ways a PhD is a worthwhile goal. A couple of thoughts:

1) Many of my 20 something peers are struggling financially, 20-30k a year is difficult to live on in CA. I made good money in my 20s and enjoyed life, having less now does not bother me. 2) I don't have children. My peers with children face a much different set of challenges than I do. I suppose it comes down to the support structure in your life, but I am not sure I could do this with school age kids. 3) I cannot stress enough the importance of a top tier school and a strong advisor.

[kchoudhu]

Yeah, by the time I plan on heading back to school, I'm going to have a six year old and a seven year old, and I don't think money will really be a problem (I'm effectively coasting and working on random side projects now anyhow, going to school won't really change anything).

I suspect that a lot of the stress of grad school goes away once money isn't an issue, and your progress in school isn't an existential issue. I really do wish mature grad students were more of a thing.