* Should you use your benefits for certifications or should you save them for your kids, wife, or your own college? Probably a bit of each. The best thing you can do for your family is to be successful yourself.
I found an Education Center expert with 30 years in that business in Okinawa who advised me that: * Only 1 in 4 people use their GI Bill benefits AT ALL. * Only 1 in 16 people uses up their entire pot of money.
So let's say you or your wife or kid are that 1 in 16 who uses up your entire pot of money. That means, down the road, you will have to, in effect, pay for the certification, by which time you may have gotten a job, pay raise or promotion because you, or they, had the certification(s). The best thing you can do for your kids and spouse is to be successful yourself, so get certified.