What type of consulting are you interested in? For example, are you looking to leverage your property finance experience directly, or looking for a completely fresh break?To generalise (as I don't know what you consider a "basic" salary or what level you are used to operating at) the more you leverage your experience directly, the more likely you can focus it into significant career progression. Making a sideways shift to new sectors and skillsets means your salary is likely to revert to a basic level, although of course your enhanced long term earning potential may compensate for it.From the way you've phrased the question I've assumed that you aren't looking at the typical route into consulting for individuals of your age, which is to brought in from industry as a director/principal/partner in order to leverage your contacts for high level sales and CRM.As you say, you are older than many MBA graduates who will come off the programme into Associate hiring schemes. Of course, things are getting evermore sensible these days when it comes to age equality. In addition, many of the reports we hear (including through this site's newsletter) say that consulting employers are more willing in the current climate to look at candidates without consulting experience or with less conventional experience.There are a lot of unknown variables, such as your personal gravitas, networks, consulting skills, and dare I say the quality of your b-school that can open or close doors to consulting. On the basis of your question here though, I wouldn't be altogether despondant about your chances. You probably need to start focussing on what your USPs are, what type of consulting and consultancy practice would suit you, and so on.
