I’m impressed when old dudes, or dudettes, do something academic. Pass all three after eighty. That I would congratulate. Your processing power peaks at eighteen, your problem solving ability peaks around 25, and nothing really great is usually achieved past thirty.
great achievement, now you need to focus on finding a strictly relevant job, there you can maximize the value of your CFA charter
I would recommended everyone to finish CFA as early as possible, studying for it while working is a pain in the butt. especially if you have a family or demanding gf.
Nash,
First congratulations! Your achievement at such a young age is commendable. The only problem was the heading of your thread which rerad something like finished all by 23 or whatever. While you were elated (or so I suppose) and wanted to share your joy and happiness with all AFers… you need to understand that the world out here (and as in everwhere else) stink with jealousy, hatred, racism and confidence is seen as arrogance.
While I am “junior” to you (I am Level III candidate most likely to take my exam next year i.e. 2015)- I am in my late 30s and never studied finance in my undergrad or post grad level beyond basics.
And by the way, seeing your background please refrain from using the word “boring” about FRM. For if you are not really knowledgable about it I suggest you google or rankle few of the AFers here and they will tell you what FRM is in terms of difficulty. I am a Level II FRM candidate as well and will be taking my FRM exam this November 15. If you like quants then just flip through the GARP pages of FRM and you will know what I am talking about.
You are a bright guy. Move ahead in life. You reap 10-15 years advantage against the average CFA holders!
AB
I agree that this is an honorable achievement but JKNASH1 needs to learn how to phrase his achievements. It could have been posed as a question rather than a statement and nobody would have trashed him. You learn how to tell your achievements, gain respect, but not self gloat or put others down (even if that was not his intention). Hopefully, he will learn that with age. The people who do not learn it end up being cubicle analysts the rest of their lives.
Being an “old 32 year old”, I have come to realize that office politics and relationships end up being just as if not more important than designations such the CFA, how smart a person is or how hard a person works. It’s not always fair but it is what it is.
I come from Corporate Real Estate Finance. This was more of a challenge to me personally rather than a stepping stone in my career. I also deal with a couple of people who think they are so special as a CFA Charterholder in an industry with so few. I cannot wait to calmly tell them the next time they gloat in a negotiation that I also have my CFA Charter as well.
*proofs. Unwise to use incorrect words when you’re on a rant trying to prove how smart you are.
[quote=“MajorNYC”]
I agree that this is an honorable achievement but JKNASH1 needs to learn how to phrase his achievements. It could have been posed as a question rather than a statement and nobody would have trashed him. You learn how to tell your achievements, gain respect, but not self gloat or put others down (even if that was not his intention). Hopefully, he will learn that with age. The people who do not learn it end up being cubicle analysts the rest of their lives.
Being an “old 32 year old”, I have come to realize that office politics and relationships end up being just as if not more important than designations such the CFA, how smart a person is or how hard a person works. It’s not always fair but it is what it is.
I come from Corporate Real Estate Finance. This was more of a challenge to me personally rather than a stepping stone in my career. I also deal with a couple of people who think they are so special as a CFA Charterholder in an industry with so few. I cannot wait to calmly tell them the next time they gloat in a negotiation that I also have my CFA Charter as well.
Major,
If I may, then don’t. you are a “32 year old man” and there’s no telling that the self glorified charterholders (pardon me , only meant for the NUTS) would end up in the cubicle of analysts. So my advice would be do not "calmly tell them the next time they gloat in a negotiation that I also have my CFA Charter as well. ". You woud be demaning yourself. Afterall I am “younger " to you by 7 years and I am 39 and I think it is only correct to say humility is the best form of intelligence ever domenstrated. And I think personally, the biggest takeaway for me from this program is the humility and empathy aspect and not to mention core of ethics that is so strong. Where else a course demands " Do not overemphasise your achievements by claiming superiority”. This course does for me. Sincerely, come 2015 and I would also want to be in your shoes (or that of OP’s minus the ego) but I pray to god that I really become a CFA in the true sense by cultivating, believeing and practising respect, humility and empathy. Why do you think Ethics rank so high across all the 3 levels…? There are justifiably strong reasons for it.!
And of yeah! congrats to you as well. Cheers! You earned it.
I used to find it very frustrating to see all the young guys finishing the CFA in the 20s whereas I started the program not until my late 20s after finishing university. But I have learned to accept that as this is not a competition. We don’t fight for the only job in finance out there.
So JKNASH1 is so awesome that disabled dolphins come to swim with him…so what? It does not have any consequences on our lives!
You peaked too early. Have fun waiting
If you didnt have anything to do beside studying, then i feel sorry for you. Life is tough for ppl of low competencies like you. Man are you that dumb? showing off your lack of intelligence in this Forum? you betta hide it rather than brag about it. Have you read the stories of candidates juggling family, job, life difficulties and the exam; and still managed to pass the first attempt? havent you read about those who got new babies, lost a beloved, or lost an income just before the exam and still managed to make it?
Is it a big deal for a young student to pass exams? it seems it is to you. It’s big deal to you bcoz you are too dumb to find such a thing very doable; especially if you are a looser in life and has nothing else to do.
I cant judge your level of IQ, but definately you have a very low EQ. Otherwise, you wouldnt post your “am just another looser nerd” thread.
It was easy for you having nothing else to do; lets see how will your breed fair in life after the opening of Disneyland Shanghai in 2016.
Get a life first then tell us how you tackle it.
^ gotta say. overkill with the IQ and the life statemetns.
granted AFers tend to be more on the A-hole side, but maybe a little too hars for a 23 y.o.
cut the kid some slack @flamboyant. hope you passed ur l3 exam (if u took it) cuz at least he’s got that one on you.
“Harsh for a 23 yo”. And when are 23 yo considered kids?
On me, I passed both of first 2 levels 1st time during harsh times. This is while my background is not in Finance, Accounting, Business or Economics. Got other Credintials ,as well, that I obtained the first time I took their exams. And you know what? I feel ashamed talking about this becoz I presume half of the readers have better stories than mine.
“AFers tend to be more on the A-hole side”…Have you ever worked in the market? It’s wild. I consider AFers are on the decent kind side. The 99%.
If the 23 yo kid need to learn something, he gotta learn it with humility. Almost every industry kill and overkill hubris.
And this was a public service announcement delivered humbly by your friendly neighbor Flamboyant.
The chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT… Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.
This isn’t a guy who built the railroads here!
Hey OP,
It’s so ambitious of you to have finished this thingy at age 23 yrs… it’s a charactersitic of most young people from developing nations; always ambitious and always working hard. I say this because I come from a developing country in one of the most disregarded continent in the world. Needless to say, you were very lucky to be in the US where it is easier to get the fees for the CFA program… Back in the developing nations, people cannot raise that money while that young, they have to finish undergrad (averagely at 24), work for some years before managing to raise the fees.
I can assure you that if the curriculum and exam was given to 17-19yrs old in my country of origin, with a passmark of 80, the pass rate would >85%…
OP, do not get overtaken by your feelings of achievement, get to appreciate that for each CFA taker, it is a timing issue and circumstances in their lives i.e. economic status, family, job etc… that determines their results.
For those guys working in the investment industry, attaining the designation show their commitment towards their profession and they mostly get pay rises and promotions upon becoming CFAs. In your case, it’s not clear what your professional commitment is, unless you are aggressively looking for a position in an investment firm. And if you are, you should remain humble to start at the lowest position together with other non-CFA’s, and I can assure you the desigantion will not count in the measure against your peers if you dont outdo them; it’s the sad story about workforce dynamics. I for example has constantly been rated higher than my peers who are CFAs; it’s about driving results. You will be shocked to know that most successful and senior-ranking investment professionals in New York are not CFAs.
So buddy, get out there, get a job that leads to you attaining the charter and get to understand what drives companies and results. That’s what is gonna earn you more respect than declaring how young you are to finish CFA exams. It cannot be taken from you that you have done it at 23; needless to say, there are other CFAs younger than you. The question, did you take CFA to prove to others that you can pass difficult-rated exams? or did you take the exam because you want to be a commited professional in the investment world?
CFA is a brutal exam but its nothing when compared with some other exams like IIT JEE, CAT (in both the cases less than 1% of the candidates pass). What makes CFA challenging is jobs, career, family etc. I am pretty sure 10,000 engineers from india can pass CFA every year if they do it during school, especially if they are studying Finance and Economics. What prevents them to do so is they donot have the funds, the relevant jobs or related degree. It’s a huge achievement but much less than what you are going to face in near future.
Lol abhi…when u say CFA is nothing compared to IIT/CAT…lol I couldn’t stop laughing…it’s not about pass ℅ or no of noobs sitting for an exam but its the quality of your peer competition… IIT/CAT are India specific…CFA is global…sooo it’s better we don’t brag about IIT/CAT(last time I checked only 1 IIM in top 100)
WoW. If this is how you analyse things, then you have no chance of becoming a member of the Wall Street tribe. Instead, you would join the herds; or become an inside trader with too many traces draged behind.
and coming to language, if a “brutal exam” is “nothing”, how would you describe your benchmark junks (IIT, JEE, CAT)? I wouldnt trust an analyst like you. You’ll come up with out of proportion statements: “this stock is taking off to the skies”; " this stock is amazing, but it’s nothing"; “you’ll loose all of your money with these bonds”; " thess CDO’s are AAA rated, there are made up of an innovative instrument called sub-prime mortgage; somehow they’re correlated with the mexican population in CA; you can buy them and retire now"; " my cousin’s trust fund will make you a billionare with a B"