Other people, including me, have written books with main characters who were old and rich. Or old and brilliant. Old sages, old wizards, old rich people.
It is not wrong to be different. Sometimes it is hard, but it is not wrong.
I had, of course, no model for that sort of woman being married, but I can make that up as I go along.
Having to struggle gave me the chance to demonstrate strength of character.
Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.
I actually feel that the different kinds of stories come out of different parts of my brain.