TITLE: General Advice on choosing Mathematics as career path
QUESTION [8 upvotes]: Firstly, i know that this question will be closed ultimately. But i want to know opinions of various mathematicians here, which is important   
My Background :  
I am Bachelors of Arts graduate, 27, I work as a Clerk currently. I have interest in Mathematics so I started studying it. I have studied "How to Prove It ". After getting basics I am doing Real Analysis and starting onto Abstract Algebra. I have covered Calculus 1,2,3 already from Adrian Banner'S Calculus Lifesaver videos.       
I have been given advice that since I am 27, so it's too late to graduate in Mathematics and do P.H.d because that will can take 7-8 years which means that i will be around 35-36 years of age. I have been told that i should pursue mathematics as interest only (hobby). 
I wish to know advice and opinions of experienced people before this question getting closed. If it gets closed, I have email I.d in my profile description, you can send me responses there. But I want to reach out to mathematicians before it gets closed.
EDIT
I asked this question on academia stackexchange and i got nothing but downvotes. I think this website has many more mathematicians than other platform. Please consider reopening this question as many people have the same problem as i have
Thanks

REPLY [2 votes]: Four years ago I was at your age, and I began my mathematical career. I didn't even have my bachelors degree. Today I'm trying to get my PhD. I'm not going to lie to you, there were hard days. Many of them. My brain wasn't the same it used to be. Younger and fresh out of school students learns everything quicker, and it annoyed me a lot. Sometimes, the teachers are difficult to please. At my age, some harsh words by them are hard to stomach. I can't tell you the number of days I thought about quitting. But in the end, I stayed, because seeing a relation between two distinct things was still exciting for me. It's not impossible, but you have to make sure you really want it. Otherwise, you might end up hating it all together.
Whatever you choose to do, I hope end up happy. My best wishes to you.