For someone not in the business…the CFA exam takes on more of a Project Management excerise Primary…Finance Exam Secondary. The more Finance background and knowledge you have… the exercise reverses. I work in Project Management for Boeing…trust me. This is a Project Management exercise…you need to define various milestones and execute a plan/schedule around those milestones. The CFA Institute tells you in there text books to develop a systematic study plan. The problem is…they don’t tell you how to do it. One of the major problems with the material is…the CFA doesn’t provide you with an estimated time for each end of reading problem, either does Stalla or Schweser (that makes the exercise that much more difficult). So it is up to you to assign each problem with a estimated duration. I have tried to do it…it’s difficult. The trick is figuring how pages per day you should read and how many problems a day you should complete to stay on schedule. You can not say to yourself…I’m going to read for a half hour a day and do problems for an hour and half. I guarantee that thinking will have you coming up short every time. So what you need to do…is put your analsyt skills to work and develop time lines for everything you do…it can all be done in excel…I have about 10 spreadsheets that I work from then bring it down to one master file. I believe if you think this is too much trouble your in the wrong business. Actually, the CFA is helping you develop your analyst skills through the exam without you knowing it (maybe some figure it out) (it’s a great opportunity to give your analyst skills a workout)…if you develop a detailed plan and schedule your on your way to success on this exam(s). Your plan has to match your skill level its an individual thing. Don’t treat the CFA exam like a university class…treat it as your business. The exam results are going to tell you whether or not you’re going to stay in business. Good luck in your preparation… Warrenb1
As someone with an IT background, I’ve come to realize finance is like programming. You’re either good at it or you’re not based on innate ability. For those who are not that blessed, you’ll have to bust major tail just to become competent, let alone proficient. I think the 250 hours is reasonable if structured smartly and if you have a talent for this stuff. Some people are not mathematically inclined, have problems with patterns, etc which will make picking up topics like Quant or Port Management a lot harder. People also need to realize this is a graduate level exam designed at a much higher level than undergrad studies. I’m 33, there is no way I could have had the maturity at 25 on both a social discipline level, let alone a intellectual level to pass this exam. No way. I truly wonder how many people who study for and even pass this exam could coherently speak on how this all fits together in the real world.
jlive1975 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > People also need to realize this is a graduate > level exam designed at a much higher level than > undergrad studies. I’m 33, there is no way I could > have had the maturity at 25 on both a social > discipline level, let alone a intellectual level > to pass this exam. No way. > > I truly wonder how many people who study for and > even pass this exam could coherently speak on how > this all fits together in the real world. Firstly, I’m 23 and I think i know what you mean. Very tough to fit it in my life - or lack thereof at the moment. I also find your second question very interesting. I am not doing this exam for the qualification - I am doing it to learn the material and as such i am already fairly happy with how i’ve gone. If i pass it will be a bonus.
That’s the right attitude. I say the same thing, obviously I want to pass badly but I’ve learned a lot from this experience regardless. Kudos for even attempting this at 23, there is just no way I could have passed this at that age.
Jim, If you’re using the CFA material…250 hrs is one pass on the reading and problems. I believe less than 5% of the individuals who are taking this exam can get away with 250 hrs…are you keeping a detailed log of your time with preparation for the exam. I have an accounting degree from the Wharton School…just the FSA problems will eat you alive. Some of those problems in the CFA texts take 20/30/40 minutes a piece. I think you might change your tune after taking the exam on Saturday…btw…how would you define structuring your study time smartly (I find that humorous)…you said its the way you structure your studies!!! Warrenb1
“I believe less than 5% of the individuals who are taking this exam can get away with 250 hrs.” That backs up my essential point, I think people are chasing the charter and are in way past their depth. There’s a reason the pass rates have dropped inversely to the # of people who now sit for it. I met 2 college juniors who sat for the Level1 in June while STILL IN COLLEGE. I mean come on. 10 - 15 years ago when this designation wasn’t as well known as it is now, you didn’t have these people sitting for the exam. You had people already with multiple years of experience, college professors with Phd’s, in the 30’s and 40’s sitting for it. This is confirmed from college professors of mine who have the charter and from a local Stalla instructor, all of who got it past their mid 30’s when they had to buy the textbooks separately. I know people who have no finance background whatsoever, not even from a personal investing tip who are sitting for this. Yeah, 250 hours for them is probably on the very low end of what they should be putting in. You can’t expect CFAI to start changing what they feel is appropriate prep just because the new demographic is having a hard time keeping up. They have the disclaimer which clearly states it could be more or less based on your background.
First a dedication to CFAI from the thread to show 250hrs whereas under ‘normal’ circumstances it should be atleast 400hrs: Money Money Money - ABBA Secondly, Warrenb1, what did you exactly do in your 10 planning spreadsheets? Thirdly, I can never understand how can someone(many ppl on this thread) leave their ever growing background (such as IT) , stable profession (such as engineering) and get into probably the most volatile profession of all. I mean look whats happening now. Ppl saying things will be better before you know it. For example, those who thought Quant is a safety in finance, think again, Quant Analyst are helpless as they know their growing profession(before) of measuring risk and vba-ing will be non existent soon as incapability to measure human emotion. I also think that CFAi must have seen a decrease in their new registration.
No guts no glory. I also believe you had an entire generation of finance people grow up in a bull market and now you see who really knows what the f they’re doing and who doesn’t. While this may be a terrible time from a job perspective to hop in the deep end of the pool, it’s the perfect time to learn how to swim. Capitalism is at an inflection point, I think it’ll be a hell of a lot more interesting to be involved in its evolution than stay in the toilet bowl of corporate america, which is IT. I can always go back to being a 6 figure plumber if it doesnt work out.