Within the next few weeks, I will be selling my share of the reasonably successful IT services company I helped found -- the segment here in Australia is consolidating, and, although asset prices are low, the deal is cash rather than some vastly overrated shares and implausible options.This won't mean I'll be retiring or building a new business in the same industry, but rather seeking a fresh start. Why? I'm a geek at heart, and have "been there, done that" with management -- and I can't keep my hands off the quantitative stuff (everything from computer performance analysis to benchmarking my company's "working capital" investment portfolio).I have a 20+ year old B.Sc. in computer science, but have kept my programming skills well tuned (just can't keep my hands off...). I also have an MBA from a leading Australian university, and studied accounting for a number of years (see, I said I was a geek...).Looking for something that is a bit more mentally stimulating, and wanting to combine my skills and interests for fun and profit, I am toying with the idea of pursuing an advanced degree in mathematical finance. I'm furiously brushing up on analysis, time series and differential equations in the hope of being able to talk some sense in the field in the near future.Although I love this stuff, ultimately the profit bit creeps into my motivation set, and I worry about perhaps barking up the wrong tree. At my age (44 -- 47-48 by the time I finish the M.Sc./Ph.D) would I be employable in the field? I'd be happy sitting somewhere modelling stuff and programming it into useful and useable tools, and maybe occasionally indulging ingenerating some new ideas.Any feedback or comments would be gratefully received -- don't worry about sparing my feelings.Regards,Mike

Mike,I have some views on the Australian market - can you email me privately (gjlipman@yahoo.com).Thanks,

Mike: Congratulations. Welcome to your new life.My case is similar to yours. I have a B.Sc. in biochemistry (molecular biology), worked in pharmaceutical research for 5 years, started my own telecom company (sold out after 3 years) and lately worked as a business manager for a french company in South America (healthcare). I now need something more interesting, something like the sort of mathematical finances. A relatively young science with lots of opportunities (intelectual and economic). Just as yourself I am going back furiously to the math stuff, from euclidean geometrics to calculus and algebra. I am really having fun!My current target is a M.Sc. probably in GB (Warwick, Reading, Edinburgh). I don't feel like going for a PhD. I am 31 and will be 33 by the time I get my master. Also I have a wife, 2 children and a dog so 3 years living with PhD student income is just imposible for me.What to do next? Well I don't now. Maybe look for a job, maybe go for a startup, maybe just be a private investor.So what I can tell to you is go ahead and make your vision become reality.Good luck!

Oops, sorry about wasting the screen real estate -- wrong button.Thanks, Bladerunner, for your words of encouragement. I hope your wife is as understanding as mine -- she really doesn't mind me sitting at the breakfast table reading Rudin.And thanks, Guy, for your insight! Regards,Mike

Is the gary glitter thing anything to do with the IT service? I would be careful about the phd route as they are not something to be entered into lightly. 3 (yeah right I wish) years is a long time off of the payroll and out of the work environment and the chosen subject can get a little familiar by the end of it to say the least, certainly enough to get you to go off into a totally unrelated career. However, saying that, if you do decide to do a phd, make sure it is for someone who is good at their field at a well funded reputable group. You might find the whole thing enjoyable. Another route to take might be to try to break into a finance related job on the basis of all of your previous experience which you could write up to look incredibly relavent. How many people in finance can say that they understand companies to the extent that they have created, built up and flogged off an IT firm? Good luckNig

Is thaaaaat who that is!!! I just used the picture because I envy his top and fenders. I'd have a 'do like that in a sec if I had any hair.It's actually not so much the job as the chance to study math properly that I'd be most interested in. My undergrad days were wasted doing most of my thinking with a part of my body that wasn't my cerebral cortex. Of course, a shot at a decent bonus wouldn't hurt, the way my wife and daughter flare off the disposable.So, Nig, you're suggesting something more like an analyst than a quant? That would be fun, but I guess most of the 'research' I've seen is pretty uninspiring, and so the natural conclusion is that they were a low-paid lot who just recommend whatever their firm is trying to flog, and attempt to make it look scientific by tossing in a dodgy DCF with a discount rate (to two decimal places) that they basically pick out of the air.But maybe I have it all wrong?

FranabulaxNo you haven't got it that wrong. Analysts have become a controversial position in banks, I have always thought that the rules governing walls of silence separating the poor retail public with their brokers backed up by the analysts on one side and the traders who invariably look at the analyst's report and then take their own proprietary view, an unfortunate necessity. I would love the bank to have to take the position that the analyst is touting but unfortunately the bank is invariably not that daft and law prohibits the analyst running a book (for good reason). Why I brought the analyst thing up was because it could be a route in to a bank job if that was what you were after and then you could attempt a move once you had worked there a while into something more quantitative on the grounds of your computational knowledge. Thought analysts could earn quite a bit if they got a good reputation ?I see where you are coming from now though, perhaps the educational route is the way forward. I did an MSc a few years ago and it was one of the best years of my life. The Phd thing though, still is something that you should think carefully about. I started one Phd that I thought sounded great but after six months of banging my head against an experimental brick wall, I changed course. If you do consider this route you need to know what is the groups world status, what is the supervisor like to work for, what will be the majority of your day to day activities, how long does it take the average candidate to finish, what extra money is there, what hours are you expected to work, is there money - opportunities for conferences and will you get to go to present your work. Try to speak to the other postgrads to find some of this out. Good luckNig

Thanks, Nig, for the insight into things to look out for before taking the PhD plunge.You've also given me some food for thought on perhaps looking into the analyst route. I may try doing some research just for myself to see whether there's any hope. Of course, I won't have access to company execs/directors as perhaps "branded" analysts would, but that could arguably be more positive than negative. Are you working in a bank or investment house? What's your view of the career ladder?