It's too bad that FBO's don't give "senior citizens' discounts", because you've
got a lot of company in the "over 50" crowd.

My second instrument student passed his IFR checkride at age 59. He then went
on to get his instructor's certificate at the ripe young age of 66. He's in
excellent health, so I expect he'll have many more years of happy flying. He
stays busy "riding herd" on a large group of student pilots (some of whom are
just teenagers).

It's been my experience that older students take somewhat longer to master the
basic hand-eye coordination required for flying. On the other hand, older
students tend to be more patient and usually possess better decision-making
skills.

One weakness of many adult learners (in almost any endeavor, not just flying)
is that they tend to "overthink" a maneuver or procedure. Although it's
important to plan ahead and vizualize what you want to accomplish, it's also
important to recognize that many flying skills (such as learning to land in a
crosswind) require you to react nearly instantaneously in response to what you
see and feel. (As you gain proficiency, many of these responses become
automatic and almost unconscious.) During your initial training, keep an open
mind and pay careful attention to the visual cues (what you see outside the
airplane), how the aircraft sounds, and how it responds to your control inputs
at various speeds. A good instructor can help you with this.

Interestingly enough, I had two older students that struggled with basic flying
skills (i.e., landing), but turned out to be superior instrument pilots.

Good luck,
E. Roberts, CFI