I got my mechanical engineering degree from Kansas State University, in 1981, at age 28. After that, I spent 22 years working in a nuclear weapons manufacturing plant, with up to 6000 employees. A PE license was not a requirement to develop manufacturing processes for nuclear weapons components. I quit that job to follow my wife's more lucrative job, working for the US Treasury Department. Finding an equivalent position at age 50 proved impossible, so I retired, 18 years ago.