I was in a similar situation about 20 years ago, the company I worked for went into liquidation, did a course regarding running my own company, the money just did not add up, wife & kids come first, as I was nearly 50 at the time jobs seemed to be a little hard to come by, even with my experience.
I did some contracting, this turned out to be a good money earner, however, it was a bit hit & miss, eventually got a position with a food manufacturing company, they used a contractor 2-3 days a week, I was to replace them, I was a little unsure at first, for 30 years I had been in automation working on many different plants & countries, not sure if I could be happy stuck in one place, however, quite got used to being home every night, unique position although had a boss, I was left alone to do my job. They went bust some 16 years later, I was kept on by the administrators to close the place down, I was then given my old job back with the new company, very little of the existing plant was kept, basically stripped out most, re-built new, then just after we had the place up & running, they told me my job did not exist but could stop on as a member of the maintenance team, so I had been used. as I was close to retiring, I decided to stay, not what I wanted but money ok, job easy, I actually stopped on for 18 months after my due retirement date, eventually deciding to retire, personally I would not want the hassle of running a company close to retirement, but would reccomend perhaps contracting, let others do the admin.