Not sure I agree with the formal education advice. For one, most 2 year associate degrees are formal education, but they concentrate on the "applied" practices - that is, "hands on". For example, not only did I learn electronics theory from books and formal classroom lectures for my 2-year degree, we had many hours with hands on training troubleshooting and repairing actual electronics devices - in my case, UHF/VHF receivers and transmitters, consoles, 40 channel tape recorders, amplifiers, power supplies and more. We also were taught not just how to use sophisticated test equipment (oscilloscopes, frequency generators, frequency analyzers, multimeters) but also how they work. Plus, part of my degree curriculum included technical writing, advanced mathematics and physics - studies that made understanding and working with electronics theory and real-world scenarios even easier to understand.
With my 2 year degree, I was able to step out "in to the field" with a great understanding of how almost any electronics device worked - the theory behind it. From there, I took the necessary "certification" training for specific electronics devices and systems to then become qualified on that system.
Certs are great and essential but they have very narrow focus. And they expire or become obsolete. For example, I used to be certified on Novell networks because at one time, Novell dominated LAN networks. But today, that cert is useless. I have many certs for various Collins HF (ham type) communications system and multiple Motorola hand held and mobile systems used by police and fire departments. But all that hardware has been superseded and is obsolete - as are my certs. All they are are fillers on the bottom of a resume/CV.
But my "Associate in Applied Science - Electronics Systems Technology" degree, even after all these years, is still applicable and still makes for great resume/CV qualification material for a good job.
My 2 year degree provided me a major foundation and stepping stone for my 4 year Bachelors of Science degree in Electronics Management. That 4-year degree opened door to higher paying jobs and allowed me to get hired on at a major defense industry software development company where I immediately stepped into the position of project manager and team lead on several government (state and federal) projects. I was making big money and I had lots of highly qualified (certified) technicians and programmers working for me.
So you need to ask yourself, where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Do you still want to be the grunt labor? Or do you want to direct the activities of those laborers?
So folks want nothing to do with management and that's okay. But unless you are the absolute best programmer, best technician, best sysadmin and can make yourself one-deep and irreplaceable, your pay will always be capped. And I know from personal experience degrees can also help get you a significantly higher starting salary too. It sure makes for a great salary negotiating chip. :)
Certs are great (if still current) and IT needs highly qualified programmers, admins and techs. And there is nothing wrong if that is the path you want to take. But your goal needs to be making enough money to support family, send your kids to school, AND pay your retired self enough so (1) you can retire at 60 or 65 and (2) you can then afford to live the way you want to, and certainly not depend on Social Security - because you will starve if that's all you have for income.
So again, formal training is something you can use for the rest of your life. Certs you can't. Of course, job experience is key too. In fact, experience can be more valuable than degrees and certs, in some cases. But you have to get hired first.
Welcome to Sysnative! Can't give you much advice on formal IT education. Research and applying knowledge is something you learn to do when completing a degree or carrying on with any post graduate studies - this discipline will stand you in good stead and in my case I used it to learn various aspects of IT long after I started my career in chemistry.
