StonyCreekBare, I'm your age and made the transition to iOS programming 3 years ago. I was coming from a staff technology strategy position. Hence, my path back to coding was probably harder than yours. First, don't do this alone. I hosted a group of other beginners at my house weekly where we talked code and read the various books together. This made a huge difference. Second, write an app. Put it on the store in under six weeks. Why? It gives you a goal you can achieve. Mobile apps need to do a few things well -- not everything you might imagine it should do. Building a portfolio matters. Do it starting right now. Third, join a local developer group. iOS and Mac OS X people are friendly and helpful. They helped me and will help you. You can make the transition. Come on in the water's fine. Andrew