i am starting to feel a little restless. am i alone here? i have been visiting this forum everyday for i don’t know how long. I don’t want to start reading because once i do i will not stop. I was hoping that a group of us would all start at teh same time so that if one of us has any questions we can help eachother? when do you guys/gals intend to start? are you going to take advantage of the extra time? please help!(do i need to calm down?)
I don’t plan on starting until next year. I’ll probably forget anything I read now anyway. I do plan to skim through the topics out of curiosity, though. UPS says the books will arrive today. Yay?
i have had a chance to look at some of the material. what we are going to learn looks pretty bad ass!!!
Everyone is different. I don’t subscribe to any particular “rule-of-thumb” such as starting too early will burn you out etc… It will for some people, whereas others will feel much less stress if they start early and maintain what is for them a more sustainable pace. Level 3 is much more nuanced then the other two, I think. Starting early, IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT is not a bad idea at all. FWIW I feel much the same way as you and have started as well. I’m not being too structured though, I’m just sort of picking the readings that capture my curiousity (Reading 42, option strategies for porfolios is what I’m looking at right now). Bottom line, if you are feeling antsy to study, then study!!
hahah “rule-of-thumb”
how did L1 and L2 work out for you and when did you start? If you are lazy, I say start in October or November – don’t have to put in as many hours per day, can skip more days, but run the risk of finishing early and losing motivation. If you are less lazy, January is a great month to start – average 1.5 hours a day, still can take a week or two break to refresh the brain. If you are a speed-reader/master-crammer type with ample free time, or just a CFA CBOK stud, you could probably start in March or April and be okay.
okay for level I and II, I never studied during the week. every weekend I studied 8-9 hours a day. I did this for 4-5 months. I also used most of my vacation time and a few sick days(about 15 days) to study.
I started in late April…and failed band 10…I put in about 150-170 hrs Planning on starting Jan-Feb this year and put in a solid 300hrs to pass with flying colors.
N.VanCandidate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I started in late April…and failed band 10…I > put in about 150-170 hrs > Planning on starting Jan-Feb this year and put in > a solid 300hrs to pass with flying colors. You are going to pass this year bro.
I got the books today. Will probably take one weekend a month till december and then get serious jan 1st.
I’m starting now also, but I’ve had a ton of downtime at work lately. I’m starting off by not studying so much as just reading the CFAI material. I want to get a feel for what it’s all about before I start trying to memorize and study intensely. I’m hoping to get through all of the material over the next couple of months, but am not at all concerned about retention just yet. I’ll get started for real around January.
I’ll start in October - but very light - maybe 10 hrs per week. Will likely kick it in come January. I work alot, and have a full plate of work travel between now and year end. I haven’t ordered the books yet. I am still trying to deal with the failure - need to get the negativity out of my head first. 
Just passed, and I believe the time spent if started very early will not pay back, will add no more than 30% spent on it, as many details will just be forgotten after 4 months. Did all the levels starting 4.5 months before exam with approx 300 dedicated - so will advise this
NightOwl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m starting now also, but I’ve had a ton of > downtime at work lately. I’m starting off by not > studying so much as just reading the CFAI > material. I want to get a feel for what it’s all > about before I start trying to memorize and study > intensely. I’m hoping to get through all of the > material over the next couple of months, but am > not at all concerned about retention just yet. > I’ll get started for real around January. you’ve got the right idea. just read very easily the first time. but of course read quite fast as you aren’t taking notes. just get a feel for the material with a very quick read-thru. you can probably do a book in two days studying that way. … trust me, something like behavioural finance and the 25 expressions spread around all the texts needs to be crammed near the end. early memorization doesn’t help that much.
I think i’ll start studying when I get the schweeeeze stuff. Guessing that will be in October sometime?
A good piece of advice: You should start early. L3 is more difficult than L2. Many people will try to persuade you to start later. Don’t trust them. They are probably afraid of competition.