shadows,
I was 24 before I came out to my parents. (I'm 28 now). I also came out to one of my friends about that time. I'm only out to 4 people, I'm in any contact with. None of them believed and thought I was joking.
I waited because 1) I had no reason to say anything really. 2) I didn't exactly know how my parents would react. I was able to completely support myself at the point I told my parents, just in case things went south.
As it happened, my parents were more than a little surprised and a week later... it was 9/11/2001. That cut off anything that would have been drawn out.
My father now takes great pleasure in teasing me about it. He asked last night if I was going to get to houseboys when I moved into my own home.