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Across plant species and biomes, a conserved set of leaf traits govern the economic strategy used to assimilate and invest carbon. As plants age, they face new challenges that may require shifts in this leaf economic strategy. In this study, we investigate the role of the developmental transition, vegetative phase change (VPC), in altering carbon economics as plants age. We used overexpression of microRNA 156 (miR156), the master regulator of VPC, to modulate the timing of VPC in Populus tremula x alba, Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays to understand the impact of this transition on leaf economic traits, including construction cost, payback time and return on investment. Here, we find that VPC causes a shift from a low‐cost, quick return juvenile strategy to a high‐cost, high‐return adult strategy. The juvenile strategy is advantageous in light‐limited conditions, whereas the adult strategy provides greater returns …