If you have the means to go back to school by all means, do it. It’s never a waste of time. Continue to work, though. Part-time or whatever, so you can keep your foot in the “working world.”
Seems to me you’ve put a lot of thought into what will pay off best, and I can’t blame you for that. A bad economy is a scary thing and you’re looking for stability and security. But…
Publishing sounds exciting and invigorating, and finance seems stifling. Since you must still have a little money why not start asking yourself what gets you really excited? What have you always been interested in that maybe you haven’t been able to pursue? If you find a career in that, you’ll make a decent living because you’ll want to put so much into it. And the thrill and accomplishment will pay off big time. To paraphrase, “Someone who has a job doing what he really loves will never “work” a day in his life.” Long-term that’s really important. I would encourage you to go for your bliss.
Free stock tip: toilet paper. A necessitary that will probably never go away.
I’m going to add this because today I see a misspelled word in my reply, and different things pop up in some of my posts.
I use a dictionary all the time. (I used to be a “walking dictionary” myself, but not anymore.) I had a stroke last year and it affected some things. Spelling and even just reading. My memory isn’t so good. Sometimes I say or do things that I think are correct, but when viewed later—not so much. lol And…that’s all.
Given the cost of grad school, you need to make a serious decision as to whether having the MBA will earn you back the gawdawful amount of loot you’ll have to lay out to get it.
Sorry, Becky2844, if there’s glamour in the publishing industry, I failed to find it in 20 years. I did get so good at predicting sales and mergers of the companies I worked at that middle management would scoff at my predictions. Until they came true.
[rant] Here is a very good summary of what happened to print publishing (Allan Lynch, about 2/3 down the page):
"So many of the papers which were/are in trouble are in trouble because new, non-publishing owners bought them at the height of the market with the eye to stripping them off assets and doing fast property flips of prime downtown real estate. The companies got loaded up with junk debt. And while the papers could sustain their operations from revenues even in a lousy economy, they couldn’t service this massive multi-billion-dollar debt that the owners had stuck them with. "
In addition to Mr. Lynch’s astute observations, corporations want to get out of the volatility of paper and postage costs, and assume that everything on the web is free/low cost to host, and forget the development costs, while burying their head in the sand about non-existent revenues.
True story: I was in a meeting where they were announcing the move away from print and they put all the numbers of web revenue gains up in percentages, and the print numbers up in dollars. When I asked what percentage of their revenue came in from the web as compared to the percentage that came in from print? Answer: “We don’t have those number in yet.” Bullshit, the numbers don’t support the direction that you want to go in, so you’ll fudge the chart visuals. I know, I did charts for many years too.
[/rant]
Unfortunately, there’s no reserves left after being unemployed for 2 years with 3 children. I am part time paycheck to paycheck. So going back to school to become an actuary is the biggest risk (heh, I crack me up) I am willing to take, because my risks put them at risk.
Isn’t it even worse than that? Isn’t student debt non-dischargeable in America? So in the worst case scenario you’ll rack up thousands in debt, not get a better job and be stuck with the debt even if you declare bankruptcy.
In the best case scenario you’ll get a better job but much of your income will go on debt repayments until the thousands of dollars are all paid back.
Not worth it in my opinion unless you qualify for some pretty sweet scholarships.
When I was looking at an Actuarial Masters, the 1 or 2 year Masters degrees were aimed at those on day-release from actuarial firms. A Bachelors’ degree was 4 years.
ETA And they wanted me to do a 1 year foundation course beforehand.
Do you already have a BA? If not, then it’s definitely a good investment, but there’s almost no value in a second one.
The actuarial credentialing processes in the US and the UK have almost nothing in common besides the fact that the people who finish it are called actuaries.
I have an associates in commercial art. I’m bracing myself for having to go through a whole 4 years as a result. If it turns out to be less, wonderful.
I’d say go for it! I was 45 when I started my MBA. At 50 I can say it was worth it. I have a high-paying job at an MNC. And I love my job! I would encourage you to get into an accelerated course and finish your Bachelors as quickly as you can and join a part-time MBA program. If you want to pursue finance, consider whether you have the interest and the aptitude for math. A CFA or an MBA in Finance/Accountancy is rigorous.
The best case scenario is you become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and make more money than you know what to do with.
More likely you will just have to get by on a hundred grand or so a year.
It’s a typical cost benefit analysis of the NPV of your future earnings vs the total principle and interest you will pay in school loans and whatnot (which you will learn how to do in business school).
The cost of grad school can often be covered in part by various forms of financial aid which will not have to be paid back. This is especially true at the top tier schools.
The value of the degree will be determined to a great extent by the reputation of the school you attend. By that I mean, it’s value to potential employers. It may still have great personal value as will be explained anon. Another component will be the area you decide to specialize in. You should know what this will be before you even apply to schools and the quality of their program in that area should be a top priority. But this is mainly for older students going back to school and who want to see tangible benefits sooner rather than later. For someone straight out of college, it may be less of an issue, but in that case, maybe doing a few tours of duty in the real world first would be a better idea.
I never saw much material advantage to having the degree. My specialty was finance and was part of a JD/MBA joint program. However I would rate the “enlightenment factor” as being off the scale. Like any well-rounded academic program, you will have required courses in all of the major areas a business has to understand and deal with - from accounting to law to finance to marketing.
You basically learn the methods used by businesses to both adapt to and manipulate their environment - the same environment we like to call “home.”