There’s not one specific age you’re going to find is The Answer to this.

When you are young and still developing and have lots of time to find your path, it’s worth making the long term investment of some general schooling to maximize your own growth and development, and prepare yourself for a broad set of possible futures.

However, as your career progresses, it becomes less valuable to invest in general schooling, but specific training for your specific career can still be valuable.

There’s no cutoff point where all this flips. If you are 5 years into your career and still aren’t certain of what you want to do, an MBA may still be valuable. It will expose you to a range of skills and possible roles and give you some good general foundation for things like leadership roles, or starting your own business.

If you are 20 years into your career and want to rank up to earn more money, an MBA is probably more expensive than it is worth. At that point, your experience is much more valuable than shy degree. Sure, you might look better in a job interview with MBA on your resume, but getting an MBA is expensive and whatever small advantage it gives your resume will probably not pay for the cost of the MBA.

You need to figure out where you are in this journey. Do you still feel that you are exploring and looking for your niche? Schooling might help. Are you on a specific path and hoping to power up? Schooling may not help.

I am 20 years in. I took a class for $300 last year that was highly specific to my role and only required two days. That was worth it. Spending $40k on an MBA will not be worth it for me. I could be 38 or 54 years old, age isn’t really the point.

The only time going to school isn't worth it is if you're already burnt out in your job, genuinely have no time to do it, and make so much money that adding university classes on top of that isn't worth the effort or time investment. Having said that, if you need the degree to increase your earning potential, even in your 30s or 40s or whatever, then it's worthwhile despite all the challenges. My mom got her degree in her 30s and massively increased her earning potential and that has paid off over the decades, and I'm currently getting my degree in my 30s to increase my earning potential as well.

There are remote school options where you don't need to attend classes so those are much easier to fit into your schedule, and much cheaper, places like Western Governors University.

If you are 20 years into your career and want to rank up to earn more money, an MBA is probably more expensive than it is worth.

Or the opposite. It’s still situational. My uncle had a long career at a large company and worked his way up to a very senior position. But he hit a ceiling where he would no longer be promoted without the appropriate degree. In his situation it was worth going back to college after 35 years in his career. Because it meant a promotion and raise, or not

Sure, it can happen. The anecdote sounds ludicrous to me: gatekeeping someone with that much experience over checking a box like that. But the good news is, if you’re in that situation you will know it, and can then act appropriately. If one is not in such an obvious situation, I think what I said is still good baseline general advice.

Never?

When you're dead?

I've seen 70-80 year olds get degrees

Going back to school when you’re employed means debt, earning way less or nothing during your bachelor or master, stress, opportunities you’re not aware of because you’re simply not at your workplace anymore

Don't quit your day job. Do school in your non-work hours. This is how I did it. I stayed professionally employed and I went back at 30 years old. I did school for about 3 years part-time to get a 2-year Associates degree. Because I went with Community College and did only 1 or 2 classes per term, I never had to take on debt.

I used that Associates degree and got a better paying job that also came with a tuition reimbursement program. It paid 75% of books and tuition up to a certain dollar figure per year (IRS limit). Again, because I was going to school part-time in my off-hours, I simply never exceeded that IRS limit to extra the maximum reimbursement. I finished by Bachelors degree before turning 40. Again, I graduated with zero debt because I kept my professional employment and used the tuition reimbursement benefit. With that Bachelors degree I was able to get an even better job which lead to significant pay raises in the years that passed.

So, I disagree with your original premise that going back to school as a working adult has to means unemployment, debt, and loss of income. I'm not going to say what I did was easy, but what I did a little while ago is also still possible today. I have a close friend that is a year older than me that got his Associates around the same time I did using the same "keep your day job, do school partime" method, but he didn't start his Bachelors when I did. However, he did so later. He graduates, getting his Bachelors, in two months from now!

My state has free non-credit tuition at state schools for senior citizens. Part of my retirement plan is going back for more classes in whatever I find interesting.

I’m currently getting my degree in my 30s to increase my earning potential as well.

I did what you're doing now at the same age. I can tell you from the other side that it worked out very well for me. It was worth it for both the personal sense of accomplishment as well as the professional success. Keep at it! You've got this!

Sure, it can happen. The anecdote sounds ludicrous to me: gatekeeping someone with that much experience over checking a box like that.

This is surprisingly common in many industries. It was one of the reasons I went back and got a degree as a working adult. It worked and I was able to land jobs that had that requirement which was a springboard into higher earning work. It was so strange the first time it happened. I got a call from a old coworker I hadn't seen or heard from in about 12 years. He was a boss then looking to hire for a lucrative position. We talked for a bit to catch up, he said I had the skills he wanted then almost as an afterthought he said "Oh, uh, do you have a Bachelors degree?" and I said, for the first time in an employment situation "yes". His response was "okay, sounds good. Show up on Monday, you've got the job". That was it. Without being able to say "yes" there I would not have gotten that job. In the years since, received that same question and gave the same answer in a number of jobs after than each with increasing salary and benefits.

Also, no one asks when you got the degree. Everyone always assumes you got it after high school as is done traditionally.