Grampa???!! I am 46 with a two your old son. I'll definitely be considering a retirement home by the time my boy makes me a grampa!
Contact top twenty hedge funds and inquire about doing data storage and or programming, let them know your interests. I don't think Series 3 or 7 will help much. Early birds get the worm. Many have applied and been offered who are graduating in June.
Thanks all for your help, I have a lot of work ahead but for sure won't stop trying pursuing my dream ....
If you're in a grad program you need to be leveraging that network to the hilt. Get ahold of your alumni directory and start cold-calling, send out emails with the 5 line description you gave us saying you'd like to do a 10 minute call with them to get their advice on how you should go about a career change. On every call, end the call by asking for 2 more people they're recommend you contact. Those people are now references, not cold calls, so much easier if you're like me and don't like cold calls. On the same vein, there are several people here who are in that industry and pretty helpful and willing to lend a hand, I'd PM them to ask for more specific advice. Finally, think about starting up your own company in an adjacent space. I came to the conclusion that this industry is very much about "paying your dues" and they want you to have fetched coffee and jockeyed spreadsheets doing 80 hour weeks as an analyst for 2 years regardless of if that actually has any impact on future success. I'm around your age, and at this age we pretty much say BS to working 80 hour weeks for the sake of working 80 hour weeks, which the hiring managers know, so difficult to get a job because they pretty rightly assume you won't put up with them treating you like crap for 2 years for no reason. On the other hand, those exact same people will entrust a company you run with their business based on the offering you provide. I would have been hired as a junior analyst at the competitors of first fintech company I started, but since I started it I got to run it. If your "IT" skills include writing code, there's a ton of opportunities out there in this space.
Apparently, some things improve with age.I have spent the past year dealing with a young partner who thought he's a hot shot. The story did not end well for him. Did not go well for me either, since I literally wasted a year dealing with his immaturity and ambitions. The new guy that just started working for me is a complete beginner at the age of 36. He's ex-Army (or is it Marine? I am not sure what the difference is). Steady as a fucking rock.