The CISSP is one-fee-pays-all cert; very nice. I was shocked to see how the CISA charges you one fee for overall membership, one for local chapter membership (required), and another for the certification (that’s the real tri-fecta that pays off for ISACA).
The CISSP comes with no local chapter, but who cares? How many of you go to chapter meetings anyway? I rarely go to ISACA or IIA chapter meetings.
The CISSP requires 120 CPEs total over 3 years, with a minimum of 20 CPEs per year, which is fairly standard among certs. And for $85 per year, that’s not a bad yearly fee. Compare that $ to other certs which don’t carry the same weight.
Personally, I have not found any direct correlation between my CISSP certification and increases in salary. All the increases were due to my accomplishments, not the certification. The certification helped me achieve in some areas, and certainly gave my managers more confidence in me, so indirectly, I’m sure it helped.
Certs are most helpful when you’re new to a field or specific area, or looking for work. But even when you have years of experience, they can help round you out, and push you to learn new areas.