Is it worth pursuing a CFA at age 40?

hey, if Enrique Inglesias can still rock teenage songs at the ripe old age of 39 then anything’s possible brothers.

AMA - you da man! And I can say that because we are neighbors age wise. I do have a question: Because I am in that 1% bracket, how many hours (above 250) should I plan for in preparing for each exam?

I am very much surprised to know from this post that there are some “old” friends here and I feel I am not alone. Maybe I am the oldest candidates but I will try my best though I am still struggling with so much exam materials to be embedded in my brain. On the other hand, I will like to say THANK YOU for your encouragements !

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Wildcat, I don’t know how many hours have been spent until now but I started from last December, 20~25 hours per week. I will spend more than 30 hours per week in this last 2 months. Very glad to hear that you are also in the TOP 1% bracket. Let’s try best to beat it.

you bet!

Here some tips from experience. Usually people don’t calculate exact impact or effort which means amount of input to get to the successful goal. and this makes them worried for taking risks or not to be worth. let say 700 hours. you need to spare 100 hours in each month for 7 months. It looks difficult? It depends on. By experience 100 hours could be possible without seriously deteriorating your life. you could do so many things actually … after having know how to manage time … With 120 hours ? its almost edge to deteriorate basic life style or not. but could sleep 8 hours everday. and possible to maintain basic physical status by doing a few exercises. With 150 hours, it is very very marginal perhaps you have to sleep only 7 hours a day. Personally think 200 hours possible with some of sick days around 4, 5 days… Definitely it depends on types of work you re doing & work place

I think I need more time than average candidates because my original background was E&E engineering rather than finace or business and after all, my brain is aged, so I can not memorize the exam materials quickly/efficiently. That’s why I always try to understand the rationales of those statements in the curriculum instead of just memorizing them. This makes me move very slowly and, as a result, more time-consuming. I think for those younger candidates or those with finace/business background, there is no need for so much time.

Go for it. No pain no gain etc etc but I’d agree with what one of the other people said in that I am not sure that you need it for trading. Knowledge is essential when trading but you can have all the knowledge in the world and still be a lousy trader. From that perspective the Behavioural Finance readings will be enlightening :slight_smile:

AMA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That’s why I always > try to understand the rationales of those > statements in the curriculum instead of just > memorizing them. This

I am with you, my brother. Don’t necessarily need it for career advancement, but I have learned a lot in the past 6! years, and I don’t really regret it. In the infamous words of Grandpa Simpson. “I used to be with it, but then they changed what “it” was, and now what I’m with isn’t it. And what’s “it” seems weird and scary to me.”