I was a Finance and Accounting major back in undergrad. Do you think I need to get the Schweser stuff? I got the CFAI curriculum already. I have heard mixed reviews about it. HELP!
This question has been posed numerous times on AF. Please use the search function to find a similar answer… And to answer your question, YES! Even the CFAI site says CFAI is not 100% adequate to pass the exams…
soxboys21, where’d you see that quote? My impression is that CFAI takes a cautionary stance on third-party preparation services. http://cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/resources/prepcourse.html “Candidates should be able to succeed on the exams simply by studying the assigned readings and mastering the learning outcome statements (LOS). Some candidates, however, may benefit from using prep courses and/or review notes. But these materials should be used as a supplement, not a substitute, for study of the prescribed curriculum.” I agree though about the search function recommendation.
I’m trying to find it–you wouldn’t believe how many webpages there are within the CFA site…
So suppose that you have an 80K job. Then your work time is valued at $40/hr to your boss thus it is presumably worth significantly more (or he should fire your a$$ and invest his money elsewhere). Say it’s $60/hr. You are going to study for 300 hrs = $18000 worth of work. If you have to do it again, you’ve just blown another 18K + lots of other stuff that you would pay to avoid (telling your parents, tryng to convince your gf that you need symapthy sex, etc) = $2000. Of course, passing the first time fulfills your career goals 6 months sooner so just in the first year we’ll say it’s worth a 5% raise = $4000. The cumulative effect of other exams being passed 6 months sooner and residual effects of first year raise = $8000. So passing CFA 1 is worth $32000 more than failing CFA 1. Those books in all their glory (DVD’s, Schweser study shirts and slippers, etc) cost less than $1000. That means if they increase your chances of passing by about 3% then they are a positive expected value investment. That must be true for almost everyone and the people it isn’t true for are either really smart or really dumb. Buy Schweser. Gripe all over AF about Schweser errata. Pass the exam. If the sympathy sex thing would have worked, lie and then beg for forgiveness.
Nicely put JoeyD! 
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So suppose that you have an 80K job. Then your > work time is valued at $40/hr to your boss thus it > is presumably worth significantly more (or he > should fire your a$$ and invest his money > elsewhere). Say it’s $60/hr. You are going to > study for 300 hrs = $18000 worth of work. If you > have to do it again, you’ve just blown another 18K > + lots of other stuff that you would pay to avoid > (telling your parents, tryng to convince your gf > that you need symapthy sex, etc) = $2000. Of > course, passing the first time fulfills your > career goals 6 months sooner so just in the first > year we’ll say it’s worth a 5% raise = $4000. The > cumulative effect of other exams being passed 6 > months sooner and residual effects of first year > raise = $8000. So passing CFA 1 is worth $32000 > more than failing CFA 1. Those books in all their > glory (DVD’s, Schweser study shirts and slippers, > etc) cost less than $1000. That means if they > increase your chances of passing by about 3% then > they are a positive expected value investment. > That must be true for almost everyone and the > people it isn’t true for are either really smart > or really dumb. Buy Schweser. Gripe all over AF > about Schweser errata. Pass the exam. If the > sympathy sex thing would have worked, lie and then > beg for forgiveness. Even if ur worth $60/hr to ur employer, wouldn’t u only lose out $40/hr?
the thing about is that the CFAI material is good enough. All of the information is in the readings. THe problem is that you have not mastered the material. I am reading the CFAI material and then reading the Stalla passmaster software for each section. I soon began to realize thta I did not know it so well. I then went back to the CFAI to look at the material in comparison to the Stalla study material. It was the same. THe only problem is it is hard to master it for the exam without haveing an additional study material that brings the cfai material to life. I think you should try reading the CFAI first and then using the Stalla exam question software. THe software includes the Stalla study guides as if you purchased them except you can not print them, but there is no need to print if you read the CFAI first. I have learned alot doing this. Alos after you complete the software when go back the the CFAI material and do the end of chapter problems.
I have just started reading Schweser, is it ok to only study from those books or should i be oing through the readings from the CFAI books simultaneously… Please let me know thanks