December 2019 Level I candidates, where are you with studying?

I personally have fallen behind and as of today Im only 7% in and here for reading:

Discounted Cash Flow Applications - Discounted Cash Flow Applications

I just wanted to hold myself accountable and also see where everyone else is. Im a full-time worker with a 2 year old so finding study time has been scarce.

Just finished Ethics and Quant. I’m horrified by the last few quant sections.

I am not sure If I am behind but I am upt ~25%. I hoping to get everything done by Sept end leaving me 2 months to revise and give mock exams.

Initially I under estimated how hard it will be to find time for studies. Specially with kids and long hours at office there is no time left. What I found useful lately is every little pockets of time you find during the day is good for studying. Instead of looking for 1-2 hour window, I just study during anytime I have 20-30 mins on hand during weekdays. I am managing to finish much more this way.

35% but I’m right out of undergrad and work 8-6 in the industry. Few hours each night with 4-5 hours on weekends and I have been seeing progress. If you are scarce on time focus on problems. The brain learns by repetition.

I had initially started a study plan, worked out every single detail of it with exact milestones but none have yet been delivered to date. Very sad indeed given the planning effort.

The reason being my 4 year old is on a 2 months summer holidays and I am juggling with child care and studies amongst other things. I am petrified by Quants and Fixed Income. So far I have been studying from the Investment Series books which seem to be of more help than the current level books has to offer.

My only problem is that I am not able to wake up at 5am as initially planned to put in the hours as I am too damn tired from work and everyday activities. Once I get that schedule back on track I should be fine. Quants (Statistics) is still my main concern as I don’t have a math background. Obviously the topic is very much linked to Fixed Income which is the actual challenge. In my opinion, FI is the hardest topic although at first glance it seems straightforward.

Accounting still eats up most of my time but as a famous philosopher once said “ repetition leads to perfection”. I would also add “Time is key” to achieve that goal. That’s the challenge.

There is no statistics in Fixed income. Most statistics you’ll come across would be in Portfolio management and equity valuations. I am yet to embark upon Accounting, Eco and Ethics. I think it will consume more of my time so decided to do it last so that I can adjust the completion if i have to by few days.

So far I finished Quant, FRA, Equity, and tomorrow will be my last day on Portfolio Management. On Thursday I begin Corporate Finance.

I have just been using the CFA Institute material and the structured study plan. I’m afraid to step out from that and go to different sections like you guys have. That may be something for me to consider though.

I use CFA Institute books too but only if I am confused about what Kaplan saying in their notes. CFA books are great in explaining every little thing.

Im using Schweser notes and Mark Meldrums videos and study schedule. Major key.

Hi all, sharing my game plan and _ please kindly recommend otherwise _ as it’s my first time doing this… :wink:

Reading -

I have only been using the Schweser notes and have read and done questions in Book 1, 3 and 4 (900 pages). Got book 2 (economics) and book 5 (fixed income and alternative investments) left (total 400 pages).

Total hour spent on completion: 130h

Problems -

Planning to do all the CFAI PDF practice problems after the above. None done so far.

Estimated hour spent at 120h

Mock Exams -

Planning to do 3 from CFA and 3 from Kaplan (bought seperately)

Estimated hour spent at 60h

Ethics handbook -

Will print and read it all -

Estimated hour spent at 30h

Extra hours left: at 40h at this stage.

Thanks!

Sounds like a solid plan.

Makes me feel I am behind on my studies and under prepared (Scary thought)!!

With over three months to go I won’t say anyone is late!

Just finished up 5 readings of Ethics yesterday and today. Everything seems solid though. My take on this study strategy is focusing on what we understand instead of the amount of knowledge we need to know. There are several materials out there, within a couple of months, taking time to study each materials, sections, parts is not ideal. My strategy is read and understand and apply. Then move on to the next section. Some sections can be absorded quicker than you think.

Thanks for that. Accounting is a killer. So far I’ve put in more than 70hours on that topic alone and only half way through it. Not difficult but complicated because of IFRS/GAAP differences. Lots of formulas to grasp but I think this is the most fundamental topic in CFA (together with Econ).

To date I’ve only done the TVM DCF in Quants. Did most of Equity and FI except formulas just to get familiar with concepts as I don’t have a Finance background. Econ is very easy for those who understand it. CF is not difficult but tricky. The rest is very technical for me and lack of knowledge / experience means I need to put it crazy hours. I’ve not made much progress…

Leave ethics to november. No reason to bother your brain with that stuff in august.

Just started with Quant today. Studying from Schweser notes, practice problem from CFAI EOC, videos from IFT & study plan from mark meldrum. Hoping to finish everything by October 4. Giving me two months for revision & Mock. lets see if i can do it.

Whats CFAI EOC? Could you please tell me where you get the mock exams from? Except the free one provided by the CFA. Cheers

Anyone done with the curriculum? and done any mocks? I want to know if you had to go back to reread some chapters. I am about 50% through with the material…still have a long way to go, and i am worried I may be taking too much time trying to read everything than rather quickly going through the material not in depth, and take mocks to determine where i should really focus on.