Taking CFA for fun?

Everybody in this forum seems to be very serious about the exam and its place in the world. I am taking the exam as something fun to do with my spare time - anybody else in the same boat as me or is it jobs and promotions at work for everybody else? Cheers

CFA exam not fun. It is, however, just a test and should not be treated as life or death.

spending $600 to take a exam doesnt sound very fun to me (although my comp pays for it). i take it to further my career. you dont have to take yourself serious, but you should take your career serious. spare time? maybe i would take it if i had too much spare time to where i was bored and it was cheaper.

you must be bored

i’m in corp strategy, so i don’t feel as much pressure to pass as some of the others on the board do. i think i have more fun with it than most people, but still wouldn’t say that i’m taking it for fun. i’m taking it for the challenge and to expand my knowledge of the industry. however, there are definitely other things i would do ‘for fun’ over studying for 300 hours to pass a test.

I don’t think theres anything wrong with your post, aussie! I personally started studying “for fun” as well. Actually, the company was offering to sponsor the exam. So I thought, why not? I might as well try and see if I like it. I think my attitude had a HUGE part of my success with level I…I didn’t really care about the outcome. Some people on here stress too much. You have a huge advantage in that you’re doing it FOR YOU, which is how it should be regarded. I looked at it as a learning experience and actually enjoyed studying. Not only did I pass with high scores, but I also realized that I like finance, I’m good at it, and I want to work in the field…With just level I, I’ve already gotten interviews from investment firms that wouldn’t have looked twice at me just six months ago. So try it out if you like and if you don’t mind paying the fees…you never know, you may end up liking it too!

the Series exams can be taken for “fun”, not the CFA

If you really are taking it for fun with no goals, you should find something different. There are much deeper things to study and more fulfilling things to do with your time.

God created wikipedia for a reason. Its so you can learn anything and everything you want on your own time, without spending $600 a year… unless you have really expensive internet access. I’m pretty sure I have a Masters in ‘Wikipedia War History’ b/c of a slow job during my undergrad. If you’re bored, give it a try. they have a lot of stuff on financial/economic theory and pretty much everything you’ll learn from the cfa books.

Disclaimer - the CFA exam is known to squash spare time to bits.

aussie_wacko - By any chance are you Aussie, a supporter of Eagles and is Ben Cousins your Hero in Life?

id say its a pretty safe assumption to say he is an aussie.

If fact djjk1 you are quite correct I would in fact be an aussie, but alas Joe 2010 I would sooner label Ben Cousins the cousin of the devil rather than a Hero

I would have thought some one taking CFA for fun might as well consider Ben their Hero. And do you support Eagles?

Considering that I have lived in WA for over 8 years you might think that I would be an Eagles supporter but I am more of a Brisbane Bears supporter, yes I know you have to go a while back to remember them, other then that I go for the Dockers

dude, your definition of fun leaves me to believe that you were seriously traumatised when you younger

I am also taking it for fun…just wanted to try something different than software…

December 2008, How are you going? getting into the books well enough? I have a Computer Science back ground as well - not that I have ever used much of it.

I am not getting anything at all…and I blame myself for that… I am doing gym or playing volley ball…enjoying on weekends…but cant help…after doing coding for 8-9 hours i don’t feel like using my brain again… I know… thats not the way to prepare for the CFA exam…i ll be more serious for my next attempt… I liked it and may appear seriously for June 2009… I have registered for december 2008 exam…tho…

Anyone doing this for fun or to pass time needs a girlfriend, a hobby or needs to watch more porn… Maybe all 3… I would never do this unless I was reasonably assured of some ROI on the cost and my time which also = $$$ Any other reason is insane to me, but hey to each their own…