The oldest programmer in a place I've worked in was 82. A couple of coders have just retired, at impressive ages, where I am now. (I'm 35 BTW).

My £0.02 on the subject of study: I second the excellent suggestion above of starting with learning 1-2 techniques/functions a day. Don't just learn each one, but think how you'd use it in something you're doing, what it makes easier/quicker, where it might be useless.

For example you could learn 'map' and spend a moderate amount of time pondering how it compares to 'for' or 'foreach'. All this thinking helps me remember stuff as well as getting it straight in my head (and making sure I've understood it). Or comparing 'map' and 'grep'. (I think these are covered together in Intermediate Perl)

If the next morning it doesn't take long to recap what you learnt the day before, you're away! And yes interest is the best aid to study.

ok so maybe that went to about £23.31...