I can only answer one of your questions so I'll take the age concern. You are never too old to learn. If you want to learn you will learn it's that simple. If your willing to put the time in then do it. Degree wise. I work with a few designers in the UK and US and only 2 have degrees. It's no esensial but it's up to the individual.
A thread on learning
Google is another great university and it's free, just remember to put tutorial into you search.
Hope this helps to start with