Staying Relevant: Treating a New Skill as an Investment

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy treats a new skill the way he'd treat any other investment: what it costs, what it returns, and when to make it.

He defines skill gap, upskilling, and reskilling; explains why skills go stale, with the World Economic Forum's finding that workers can expect 39 percent of their skills to be transformed or outdated by 2030; and works through a $3,000 certificate step by step, counting the money, the hours, and the years the skill will keep earning.

Fun fact: an employer with an educational-assistance plan can pay up to $5,250 a year toward your education — or, since the 2025 tax law, your student loans — with no tax on it.