[ety45]

These are all good points. Education or a degree should never be seen as the end all of everything as it has been proven time and time again as previously mentioned that people with extraordinary talent or extraordinary ideas can succeed. All it takes is hard work, character, some smarts, and a degree of providential blessing.

All that being said, having a degree can never hurt you (unless in terms of the opportunity cost of your time and money) and it may open up many doors for you in the future that without a degree would be unreachable. The more knowledge the better - whether it be a degree or the "school of hard knocks".

A degree/specialized training is of course always a nice thing to be able to fall back on as you get older and want to try new things (or are forced to try new things due to business environment, market, etc). If you are an older person with some type of professional certification/degree from an independent instituation then you are also better able to compete.