Help Newbie, What bachelor degree best suited for cfa?

Hello, Dear all, I am 31 year old Canadian at a crossroad in my life and looking for good advice with my professional life. I have always been an entrepreneur and been successful till few years back when i moved my operations to dubai and during the financial crisis lost my shirt and most of what i had work for all my life. Now after a few years of doubting myself Ive finally gained my confidence back however im at a cross road: Do i get up and continue the same path and just change some of my methods with what ive learned over the years. or Go for a degree of some sort that interests me and change my path completely and get a good job. or Have an AND conversation to go with both and have the knowledge, education and at the same time do what i truly enjoy and make something out of nothing. My goal is to have my holding company managing good prosperous companies with me at head of the holding company and to be able to manage. I currently hold a high school diploma with no college or university back ground. Since i have no post secondary education, i have a long path ahead of me since id like to go for my cfa. I also get to choose the path and be clear of what i have to take exactly to get my cfa. Most research that Ive done on the net are individuals that already have there bachelors and are looking for an upgrade. Id like to know what you all think is the best bachelor degree for cfa chartered. Since I’m already 31 and i probably have another 8-10 years left to study, i dont want to change paths down the line and to take longer than necessary. my interests are law ( not for a career as a lawyer rather something interesting), finance, international trade and business (specially in the Asian market), economics and i really enjoy stocks. I hope Ive been clear. Thank you in advance for reading my post and please tell me your honest opinion and criticism. Carter Soze

It depends on what your business(es) was/were and how successful you think you might be a launching another company (i.e., do you have a good idea and access to financing?). Personally, I would say that if you were successful before and perhaps overextended or had some bad luck, that you should skip college and just get back in the game with a new venture. Most people that go to college and pass the CFA exams are on the “cog in the wheel” path of working for someone else, usually a large company. It doesn’t sound like you are well suited to that path. I also generally think college is overrated for independent thinkers willing to take smart risks, but that is just my personal opinion. The flip side argument is that you may be better suited to a college sort of career given that you bought into the Dubai hype (no offense, but dude, what were you thinking?), which may imply that you don’t really understand risk / reward well enough to be managing a holding company.

As for the degree there are other options, like this one: http://www.spfldcol.edu/shs (this is the only “short” one I know of because I’m not from the US) it is as they say “…degree completion in as little as 16 to 24 months…”. Out of a fluke I happen to have a degree of theirs in parallel with the one I got from my hometown’s university, so that’s why I know about it.

Do you know a guy named Kaizer Soze? Regards, jcole

jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do you know a guy named Kaizer Soze? > > Regards, > > jcole I think that’s his brother.

bromion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It depends on what your business(es) was/were and > how successful you think you might be a launching > another company (i.e., do you have a good idea and > access to financing?). Personally, I would say > that if you were successful before and perhaps > overextended or had some bad luck, that you should > skip college and just get back in the game with a > new venture. Most people that go to college and > pass the CFA exams are on the “cog in the wheel” > path of working for someone else, usually a large > company. It doesn’t sound like you are well suited > to that path. I also generally think college is > overrated for independent thinkers willing to take > smart risks, but that is just my personal > opinion. > > The flip side argument is that you may be better > suited to a college sort of career given that you > bought into the Dubai hype (no offense, but dude, > what were you thinking?), which may imply that you > don’t really understand risk / reward well enough > to be managing a holding company. That was funny, you nailed it, dude what the **** was i thinking? Its not over yet i will get my money out of dubai its just a waiting game now. But on the flip side after returning from dubai, Calgary was also in bad shape. I dont necessarily think it was an idiotic choice but definitely a bad one. theirs all these maybe’s I gave up successful business’s in Calgary and left it for someone else to run while i concentrated in dubai. However i took myself out of a working equation in Calgary so they all collapse. I’m diffidently lacking the roots of risk and it seams as i cap out at a certain point. This isn’t the first time that this has happened. this is the second time that i built 2-4 million dollar net worth and couldn’t take it to the next level instead took more risks. Truthfully i cant see myself working for anyone, rather I’m thinking of taking this rout to eliminate this gradual ups and downs. Rather more stable outcomes. Like i said before at a cross road Carter Soze

In Calgary? Maybe we could ignite each other’s entrepreneurial spirits. What’s your email address?

QQQBBE > Carter Soze

Iginla2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In Calgary? Maybe we could ignite each other’s > entrepreneurial spirits. > > What’s your email address? I actually live in Vancouver mostly however i have my place in Calgary also, i will be in Calgary middle of February. Please forward your email. thanks

cartersoze Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > this is the second time that i built 2-4 million dollar net worth third time’s the charm

If you seriously created a $2-4M net worth twice by the time you were ~30, don’t even think about going back to school. Spend your time creating another such venture, and avoid blowing it up again. I personally know a couple of people with $4M total net worth (I know because they asked me how to manage it and I saw their financial statements during that process) and they live like kings without ever having to do any work. If you go back to school, you are looking at 4 years for an undergrad degree and another 3 years to pass the CFA exams (assuming you pass all on the first try, which isn’t necessarily a good bet). That’s 7 years, and then you’ll be in line with the rest of the people on this board trying to get a decent finance job, except that you’ll be older and less marketable. Not to mention that you won’t be making money while in school, and will be most likely taking on debt. Could you give us more details about how you blew up twice? Not to pour salt in the wound, but that’s got to be a pretty interesting story.

Keyser Sooze is my new hero

You might go to school because you like to learn stuff. But perhaps you don’t need anything to be employed and well off, other than what you already have. The question is whether going to school would make it impossible to do your day job, and whether quitting your day job would make it impossible for you to go back to it after college. If so, you might consider a part time program, since it seems that you wish you had a degree (and learning for learning’s sake is generally a good thing). Heck, you could even be the 4 million dollar English Literature major, which would really annoy a lot of people on this board.

In order to get CFA charter you’ll need 4 years of relevant experience. So finance undergraduate is better for more chances to actually get this relevant experience after studies. However there is no such condition to enter the CFA program, you can be English major. So you can study whatever you want, if you like law, go for it. Be aware that age is important for finance entrants, as well as ability to spell correctly and to explain yourself clearly. Even if you continue with your ventures, proper education might help you to avoid pitfalls and succeed.

I live in vancouver, email me jdhhhh@yahoo.ca

if the CFAI accepts your work experience, you don’t need a college diploma, if I recall correctly however - that is only if you have relevant experience you could start your new business and study the books on the side

bromion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The flip side argument is that you may be better > suited to a college sort of career given that you > bought into the Dubai hype (no offense, but dude, > what were you thinking?), which may imply that you > don’t really understand risk / reward well enough > to be managing a holding company. Sorry but what kind of stupid comment is that ? There are many ways to loose one’s shirt (especially in the last 2-3 years), and not just in Dubai. In terms of risk management, I would put my money any day of the week on someone who’s a$$ has been on the line and who’s been out there rather than someone who learned some formulas from the cee-eff-ay. OP, I think the first step would be to clean up your life. Stay clear of the hungarian mob for a while, things will eventually blow over.

Viceroy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sorry but what kind of stupid comment is that ? > There are many ways to loose one’s shirt > (especially in the last 2-3 years), and not just > in Dubai. No, you are wrong. Dubai is one of the biggest and dumbest bubbles in the history of the world. The government of Dubai built a massive city in the desert, through artificial means (i.e., fake islands, pumping in expensive water to support an unnaturally high population, ridiculously sized buildings built solely through slave labor, etc.). This city was fueled by a massive debt bubble, the payments for which were predicated on two cyclical economies, oil and tourism. It’s the definition of unsustainable. You can say hindsight is 20/20, but anyone with half a brain for economic cycles and sustainability could have seen well before 2008 that Dubai was a bad joke. It absolutely shows bad judgment to pack up and risk everything on this fantasy land bubble. True, we don’t know what his business was, but apparently it was also (likely) something cyclical. Having put your business on the line only counts as a track record when you win. Otherwise you are “the guy who destroys capital.” Keep in mind, this was his second blow up – we have no idea what the first blow up was, but having the second blow up come from speculating in Dubai shows that he didn’t learn much about risk management from his first experience.

well said bromion…no need to reply, especially to a post where someone cant distinguish between ‘loose’ and ‘lose’

Dubai is a popular attraction for the very rich. Obviously, that’s not a whole lot of people. Totally agree about the slave population, it’s horrible. I disagree about the oil though, the way I see it, there is no oil left. if there was they wouldn’t have needed abu dhabi to have bailed them out. They would have just sold more oil. It’s a country that’s screwed. The finance world isn’t going to suddenly sprout a whole new explosion of jobs and need another finance hub.