Tri shoes are easier/faster to get in and out of. You'll save more time in transition than you'll save out on the road.

There's probably other things more worth of your money.

nah, those are good shoes. You'll be fine with them.

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I'm glad that you are comfortable with your PEARL iZUMi mountain bike shoes. Rarely are things a needed upgrade and cost is certainly a valid reason to not upgrade. Keep in mind that if you switch to a Road specific shoe, there is also the cost of pedals.

With that said benefits of switching to road specific shoes include:
1. Weight - This is both the saving in the shoe itself and also the road pedal
2. Connection - for the most part, road shoe / pedal interface is a more "positive" connection that a mountain interface. With a road pedal you are much more "locked in" with less toggle or extraneous movement
3. Adjustability - Road systems allow a wide range of fit adjustments. Cleat position, rotation and canting are often more than can be achieved with a mountain system
4. Stiffness of the plate: While many see this as the most important, I see it as the least. There is a good chance you will never feel an increase in speed or wattage due to the stiffness of the plate. However, in my opinion, comfort can be improved with decreased plate flex especially under high torque situations such as lower cadence out of saddle climbing.

Costs associated with switching:
1. Financial Cost
2. Ease of use: Initially road pedals can have a more difficult learning curve for clipping in and out
3. Float is decreased: Typically mountain cleats have more range of motion to wiggle your feet on the pedal. For some this is a benefit
4. Ease of walking: Lets face it, road cleats on smooth surfaces is always "exciting".

Dependent on which of the above points are relevant to you is whether you should make the switch.
Typically as people become more experienced in triathlon they gravitate toward road shoes and pedals. When this happens is up to you.

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yeah. that's pretty much it, IMO.

if your shoes are comfortable, and you like the way they feel while riding, don't change anything.

assuming these are mtb shoes w/a recessed cleat, you might even claw back some of that lost shoe-changing time by being able to have a more normal gait while running your bike in/out of the transition area.

Better power transfer? Technically, the bike science says yes. But we're talking about such a tiny improvement it would not be noticeable.

You've already addressed the common road shoe improvement, carbon construction.

Since you don't have time for shoe covers, everyone is in the same boat there as long as you aren't wearing ski boots or something super non-aero.

I'd think that if the aero is marginally different, being able to run without busting your ass in transition would be a benefit of carbon soled and velcro closure MTB or cyclocross shoes.

A cyclocross shoe might be tighter or more aero than a MTB shoe while retaining running ability, because in cross.......you have to run.