Quote from cheeks:
I know IT is dead at the moment. It is just an area of interest, and something I would not mind doing. Plus I am one of those people that just loves to learn, so going back to school sounds fun to me.
Geez. On one hand, that stuff about IT being dead is mostly just true for the "nonbelievers" - folks who got into IT cuz it was hot, and full of money and jobs. If you are one of the people for whom coding is in your blood, you can get a job in virtually any economy. I love to write programs, I'm damn good at it, and I can get a job writing code in a flash. Now, it might not be at a good place, I might have to wear a suit, and I might not get 6 figures like my last job. But that's me, I learned how to program before I got into high school in `79, and have been writing code ever since. And, I interview extremely well

.
That however, is not you.
Admittedly, this post is from the programmer standpoint but I think the point are valid even if you are interested in the other aspects of IT (networking, maintenance, hardware, etc). Fact is, unless you really
DIG technology and can't wait to bang your head against a wall trying to figure out how to make it work, you are going to have a tough road in IT right now.
So my advice to you is to stay out of IT.
That might be a bitter pill to swallow, and if so you are definitely going to choke on this next one. Maybe you should think about my previous comments for a day or two before you read the rest.
"When I left school I wanted to trade more than anything in this world. I tried to get a trading related job somewhere on Wall Street, but it did not work out."
That does not happen. Now, I know a lot about wanting something very badly. I wanted a certain lady for my wife, and it took me 12 years to get her. I'm not saying that since you are not a trader in four years that means you do not truly desire it. I am saying that since basically all you have done during those four years is try for one job on Wall Street and get a job as a waiter means that you do not greatly desire this role.
For instance, there is this comment:
"For a number of reasons I would like to get into a professional field that would allow more stability(read a family). "
Which sounds like you'd rather have a family than be a trader. Not that there is anything wrong with this, or with changing your mind about what you want to do.
To be brutally honest (and potentially wrong), it sounds to me like what you really want is to make lots of money. Once again, there is nothing wrong with that desire, greed makes capitalism work

. But, you are not going to make lots of money in IT if you do not really love it, and you are especially not going to make any money trading at all if you do not love it.
I remember one of the happiest days in my life. Somebody was going to
pay me
money to write computer games! This was stuff I had been doing on my own as a hobby, and now I was getting money! Yeah! It was more-or-less a sweatshop, but holy smoke! After a while, I was making good money, but initially
I was doing it for the love of the job.
That's even more so in trading. I wrote my very first BASIC program on a teletype in the summer of 1979, and got my first paycheck (as a full time, professional programmer) in 1988. 9 years of straightforward work - I knew what I wanted to do.
In 1990, I stumbled across a book by Trader Vic, and I was hooked on the idea of daytrading. It was pretty tough back then, what with 1/8 to 1/4 point spread on major stocks, blindingly high commissions, no direct access (couldn't buy on the bid nor sell on the ask). But I started into it. And blew out many accounts. Once I had to call a friend and offer him a case of homebrew if he'd give me a job.
Last August I left my job (making the highest salary and highest bonuses I'd ever gotten) to go full time trading. So that was a journey of 12 years. And I consider myself very green, just like I was at that very first programming job in 1988. But I love it.
Now, to be a trader, you'll be competing with me. To succeed, you'll need to take money from me, money that I have absolutely no intention of giving to you. To get a true picture of this, imagine a programming contest between the two of us. We both put up 25 grand, and the winner takes it all. For purposes of this illustration, I've been programming as a hobby for 12 years (because it is in my blood) and you have studied (because you would like to make some serious money). Are you worried about your 25k? You should be.
So my advice is you should not go into IT, nor should you go into trading. And the neat thing is, if I am wrong and you do have the drive to succeed at either (or both) of these things, you'll just ignore my advice and plow on through. Of course, you may decide to ignore my advice even if it is correct, so do not make your judgement on that basis alone.