Is a Masters worth it at 35 and already making decent money?

[bsmit107]

I have a BBA, emphasis in Finance. Graduated 2009 (not a great GPA)..... 35 now, will be 36 in November.

Currently making $85k (in an area where average house prices are $140k-$160k and Avg individual income is $30K) and have had a steadily increasing salary/job responsibility/title/position since I started working. I've been with my current company for a little over 2 years and have been promoted 2x. Last company I was with for 4 years and was promoted 5 times.

I know I can do it, just not sure it would be worth the effort/money right now. Would probably just get an MBA.

I just feel bored, currently working from home and 3 out of my 6 good friends have theirs, so I have the "falling behind" feeling.

Any advise?

[jamalfudge]

Wouldn't do it unless you're getting paid to. Don't go into debt for it.

[Destor]

Not unless your employer is paying for it and/or it'll actually lead to tangible career benefits. My plan five years ago was to go the MBA route, but the years have taught me that it would largely be wasted money aside from the ability to tout that you have an MBA and I ain't about that life

[DinnerWithMyslf]

Not unless you really like what you study. Writing long master papers can really be a bitch if you´re not motivated.

[bsmit107]

Wouldn't do it unless you're getting paid to. Don't go into debt for it.

Not unless your employer is paying for it and it'll actually lead to tangible career benefits. My plan five years ago was to go the MBA route, but the years have taught me that it would largely be wasted money aside from the ability to tout that you have an MBA and I ain't about that life

Current company wont pay/reimburse for it nor would it benefit me here. I'm thinking it would benefit me in my next move... make my resume stronger.

Would be paying for it out of pocket....but that would dwindle my savings significantly for sure.

[SouthDakotaBrah]

I'm getting my MBA for the same reason. It won't benefit me in my current career path at my company (other than personal development) - but it will make my exit opportunities stronger.

That being said, your return will be non-existent if you have to pay ~$40k for the degree (srs) I'd say most of the people getting these degrees are doing it because its an easy way to get extra value from your employer

[RobParks2M]

Current company wont pay/reimburse for it nor would it benefit me here. I'm thinking it would benefit me in my next move... make my resume stronger.

Would be paying for it out of pocket....but that would dwindle my savings significantly for sure.

If you decide to do it you would be silly to not take $50k out in student loans

But srs if Biden doesn't pay 'em off just lump sum them at the end. Interest rates are stupid low atm.

[bsmit107]

I'm getting my MBA for the same reason. It won't benefit me in my current career path at my company (other than personal development) - but it will make my exit opportunities stronger.

That being said, your return will be non-existent if you have to pay ~$40k for the degree (srs) I'd say most of the people getting these degrees are doing it because its an easy way to get extra value from your employer

Yep. Now that I think about it all 3 of my buddies got theirs b/c work paid for it and they were like "why not". 1 of them was eligible for promotion only after getting his, so it made sense.

The program I was looking at.....the same school I got my undergrad from, is like $25k/year for a 2 year program...fuk.

[RobParks2M]

Yep. Now that I think about it all 3 of my buddies got theirs b/c work paid for it and they were like "why not". 1 of them was eligible for promotion only after getting his, so it made sense.

The program I was looking at.....the same school I got my undergrad from, is like $25k/year for a 2 year program...fuk.

why fuk? $50k is perfect

[SillieBazzillie]

I have a BBA, emphasis in Finance. Graduated 2009 (not a great GPA)..... 35 now, will be 36 in November.

Currently making $85k (in an area where average house prices are $140k-$160k and Avg individual income is $30K) and have had a steadily increasing salary/job responsibility/title/position since I started working. I've been with my current company for a little over 2 years and have been promoted 2x. Last company I was with for 4 years and was promoted 5 times.

I know I can do it, just not sure it would be worth the effort/money right now. Would probably just get an MBA.

I just feel bored, currently working from home and 3 out of my 6 good friends have theirs, so I have the "falling behind" feeling.

Any advise?

What level are you at now? Director? If not, I'd assume that if you want to go to Director or above without an MBA your chances are much lower.

[NoScrubz]

If it's paid for then sure but if you are going to pay then only get it if you have a path in mind that requires or would increase your chances of reaching your goal. Do not get one if you're bored and want to boost your resume. Just gonna throw away money and time.

[pakmansc300]

Only if your company is paying for it or a top tier MBA program, then it would be worth it.

[headturner1]

I wouldn’t unless my employer paid for it.

And honestly, I don’t mire unless it’s an mba from a good school.

[roughinhouse]

You have a high salary in an area that has a very low cost of living. Why risk it? Conserve your cash and invest instead.

[underjeep]

bruh, degrees are pieces of paper now, no 1 cares

[bsmit107]

What level are you at now? Director? If not, I'd assume that if you want to go to Director or above without an MBA your chances are much lower.

That's the other fun part......I've managed people/department/programs before and have absolutely no desire to do it again. I'm at about the highest level of management/stress I want to be in. See below answer for more to the story.

You have a high salary in an area that has a very low cost of living. Why risk it? Conserve your cash and invest instead.

I currently work for a company based in Miami that was doing work in the US Virgin Islands, got the job while living down there and when Covid hit, everybody but PM's and Engineers got to work from home. Long story short 80% of the company works from home now, so I moved back close to family/friends...hence living in low cost area in GA. When this gig is up I'm thinking I'm going to need a Masters to keep this level of income due to the smaller pool of jobs that offer it.

bruh, degrees are pieces of paper now, no 1 cares

According to "minimum qualifications" for the jobs I'm looking at....they do.

[CanardMedic]

It'll be worth it, adding another trophy to your resume will pay dividend when looking for jobs.
I gotta say though, it sucks writing research paper for a MBA.
Get after it OP!

[SillieBazzillie]

That's the other fun part......I've managed people/department/programs before and have absolutely no desire to do it again. I'm at about the highest level of management/stress I want to be in. See below answer for more to the story.



I currently work for a company based in Miami that was doing work in the US Virgin Islands, got the job while living down there and when Covid hit, everybody but PM's and Engineers got to work from home. Long story short 80% of the company works from home now, so I moved back close to family/friends...hence living in low cost area in GA. When this gig is up I'm thinking I'm going to need a Masters to keep this level of income due to the smaller pool of jobs that offer it.



According to "minimum qualifications" for the jobs I'm looking at....they do.

Yea, companies care very much about degrees for higher level finance jobs.

My advice would be to get it. If it cost you $50k and you have say 25 years left to work, I'd imagine it would pay for itself many times over if you're willing to manage people. There's no way in corporate finance to hit $200k+ unless you take on higher levels of responsibility.

Maybe as a consultant, but I think you'd still need to manage people to make really big money.

Now if you're dead set against taking on a lot of responsibility for managing people it becomes less important.

[GeezersPalace]

MBA is worthless its 2021 not 2009.

Give us some deets. What you do now and what you hope to achieve with new eduation.

[AgRyan]

I just recently got my masters during COVID because I was bored and actually enjoy the field I work in, so it was more just something to occupy my time I didn't mind doing and knew it would look on a resume. Actually working on second masters right now just for fun. But again, I actually like the learning part.

[meanstringbean]

In your situation I wouldn’t get it. MBAs generally only make sense in the following situations:

- employer pays for it
- you don’t have a business background at all and need it to advance career (think engineers, doctors, etc)
- you go to an elite MBA looking for a career change


None of those seem to describe you at all. And that last bullet point isn’t one you do if you are iffy or wishy washy about it. You make good money and live in a good COL area as is. The money spent on an mba both in value and opportunity cost will likely be better spent either invested or just chasing a dream of yours if you are entrepreneurial. You’ll learn far more from starting your own business than an MBA - trust me.

There’s also a good chance that you’ve been in the same comfortable career for too long. I imagine in this market if you wanted to you could do a job change and earn a nice pay bump into the six figure territory. You’ll be happier doing that now than taking 2 years off of lost wages just for a line item on your resume

[meanstringbean]

You have a high salary in an area that has a very low cost of living. Why risk it? Conserve your cash and invest instead.

Yea If I’m OP I’m on that retire by 55 time. Make 85k and house prices are under 200k?

**** being an mba drone. Save capital, get into real estate, and make more than you could doing BS in corporate land

[elterrible987]

i wouldnt pay for it on your own unless you can get one real cheap from a state school. look and see if you are in GA long enough for in state tuition and what it would be, if it was like 15k or something sure but i wouldnt go into any huge debt, when you are working in a hunch that it would provide a return. you could move laterally but your new job could pay for the degree.

you got 3 friends with their mba, did they all pay for it out of pocket?

[Zjunky]

Not enough info.

Answer these first:
- What kind of advanced degree are you considering?
- What will that (or another degree) do for me?
- Do I have the time and willingness to put into another degree?
- How much will you spend on getting the degree? Don't forget to factor in opportunity costs and what else you could do with the money.
- What is the breakdown in a cost benefit analysis?
- Will an advanced degree pigeon hole you into a field? Many degrees can limit what people will consider you for in future hiring.

[jn677]

MBA is worthless its 2021 not 2009.

Give us some deets. What you do now and what you hope to achieve with new eduation.

MBA is still one of the highest ROI degrees. Nobody is hiring people just because they have an MBA. Those days are over. You need to be a subject matter expert in something and then the MBA puts you a track to senior management... but you need to have subject matter expertise and you need to be good at what you do.

OP get your employer to pay for it.

[meanstringbean]

MBA is still one of the highest ROI degrees. Nobody is hiring people just because they have an MBA. Those days are over. You need to be a subject matter expert in something and then the MBA puts you a track to senior management... but you need to have subject matter expertise and you need to be good at what you do.

OP get your employer to pay for it.

Really depends on the MBA. Majority of them are not good ROI at all. People in corporations generally don't care as much, your experience matters more. When it matters:

- MBA at a prestigious school to change fields. Doesnt have to be Harvard or Wharton, but certainly cant be your average state school which basically prints them off. You were in marketing but want to go into finance, you were in banking but want to go into tech, etc. etc. best way to rebrand is MBA at a top school

- You dont have a business background at all and want that skillset for management. Here you can get an MBA from likely your local school and it have value. This isn't for accountants though, but people with non business backgrounds. Think engineers, medical professionals, etc.

[jn677]

Really depends on the MBA. Majority of them are not good ROI at all. People in corporations generally don't care as much, your experience matters more. When it matters:

- MBA at a prestigious school to change fields. Doesnt have to be Harvard or Wharton, but certainly cant be your average state school which basically prints them off. You were in marketing but want to go into finance, you were in banking but want to go into tech, etc. etc. best way to rebrand is MBA at a top school

- You dont have a business background at all and want that skillset for management. Here you can get an MBA from likely your local school and it have value. This isn't for accountants though, but people with non business backgrounds. Think engineers, medical professionals, etc.

Yeah I mostly agree. I see it a lot in tech. Someone with a strong tech background who is good at what they do but they're 26-30 and they are constantly getting passed over for management in favour of someone older (happened to me as well) then go to school get an MBA, now execs will start to notice you and opportunities open up.

I figured out one thing that is related to what you're saying but you might not have lived through it. When I finished my MBA I had a really hard time when applying to jobs getting people to care that I had an MBA... but the real issue I figured out was that I was talking to the wrong people and applying to wrong jobs.

Technical Managers, Any middle management really, HR staff... they all don't care that you have an MBA.. most actually don't know what an MBA is and if they do don't place a ton of value in it.

It's a complete 180 when you interact with senior management, you need to talk to the cfo, ceo, etc. The guy who is 45+ has an MBA himself...

I realized my problem was I was applying to jobs too junior. You need a job where you report directly into c suite. Any lower than that and no one cares you have an MBA (outside of maybe consulting and some finance jobs)

You're also right that school matters.... but not always in the way people think. Name recognition and network is more important than the actual quality of the education/program or ranking. First job I finally got after my MBA (Don't want to get doxxed but it is one of top 50 brands globally) the CEO was an alumni who did his MBA 25 years back at same school. He turned out to be a tool but it still got me the job.

If you want to work locally where you are, then you should go to a school that people locally might have attended and is well respected so the top university in your state is probably a better option than a top 10 school on the other side of the country. Ideally you want to be applying to jobs where people know your school well and they've had colleagues (or even themselves) who graduated from there.

I do also agree and I stated before on this thread and elsewhere you need to be a subject matter expert in something (not business) to benefit from an MBA. So yes engineers, medical professionals, software developer, data scientist/analytics, etc. Going from a BBA to a MBA is stupid, going from a humanities bachelors to an MBA is stupid, etc, etc. What you want to be able to do is get in good with c suite guys and be their subject matter expert. You won't get that trust with just an MBA you need to know what you're talking about... but without the MBA it will take you a lot longer (and less chance ) to get in there.

[Silencespeaks]

No lmao

[friesbruh]

only to mack on hot college sloots, thats it

[AccountingMajor]

The only people getting MBAs that I know of are white people and they are getting them for useless chit like lesiure, hospitality, generic management, art, psychology.

If you're getting an MBA, what is it going it be in OP? More typical worthless chit? Or is it something specialized?

Have you got any relevant licenses (CFA, CPA, series ##)? Since you're finance that could mean anything from insurance salesman to financial analyst, to bookkeeper to investment banker.

We have no idea what you do other than you live in Georgia?

If you really get paranoid about financial stability why not just move to Atlanta?