I'm 32, I have an economics degree from the U of Illinois with no formal training in programming, I just have a passing in interest in it (self-taught in basic HTML and my company's proprietary programming language for automation). I have 4 years of experience working at a futures/forex trade execution desk and I have some licenses (series 3, 7 etc). It seems that people with both a trading and programming background can be paid quite well working for HFT hedge funds. How feasible would it be for someone like to me to learn a programming language (VBA, C++, etc) from scratch in order to land a high paying job with a hedge fund? How long would that take and what would it cost me for classes, give or take? Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
Google 10,000 hour rule. Or, to put it another way, by the time you have the requisite experience those jobs won't be high paying any more. Your existing domain experience and licenses likely have little to no value for your pursuit. It's also not just the knowledge but also the aptitude. Those jobs are high paying because they require the best. Some people, no matter how much education and experience are still horrible programmers and do not cut it for HFT purposes.
If you invest time into learning to program, go into the business with the intention of also being able to land a job doing web development or some other related programming field. This way, you'll hedge your bets against not landing a job in the industry of your choosing. Programming is generally supposed to be mostly fun. If it isn't fun to you (and it isn't to a LOT of people), you will not go anywhere.
You should be aware that there is a lot of age descrimination in information technology, especially programming. A programmers marketability tops out between age 35 and 40. After that, the he/she is expected to move into management or be counted a loser. There may be exceptions for the top 1-2%. If you have a passion to become a programmer, go for it! Just don't do it for the "high pay", because it might not be so high. You should also be aware that the half-life of job skills in I.T. is very short. Programmers need to retool every 5 years or so just to stay employable. It's a very fast treadmill, and employers hate paying for training.
I have read your problem and i think you have more intrest in programming...i am itself fom it field and programming is much intresting and moreover it has the better carrer options and better monetary benifits.