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Hi Everyone,
Long story short...I'm a highschool physics and chemistry teacher in a large, western-Canadian city. My background is in chemical engineering which I practiced for five years before moving into teaching. As an engineer I wrote and used computer models and did plenty of systems-type analysis...trying to understand how variables relate to the overall operation of a system. Surprisingly, teaching is very similar...with the exception being that the systems tend to be relational rather than operational. A few years ago I was introduced to the basics of equity analysis through members of an online poker study group I belong to. I have been trading through a discount brokerage since then and practice analysis and stock picking with a portion of my poker bankroll (in addition to managing our six figure retirement account).
...So, I've registered for my CFA level 1 exam in December...and, if successful across all three exams would be looking to start at the bottom in buy-side analysis...I am 41 with two kids and a 100k job with a DB pension...am I crazy?
Thanks for your comments.
Why do you want to be an investor?
You're right that you'll probably have to pass CFA exams to be a competitive candidate up in Canada, it seems like everyone is a charterholder up there. To prepare yourself, I think the best thing you can do is to keep investing your PA, read the "classics" (Margin of Safety, Intelligent Investor, Security Analysis, etc), and take the exams.
But seriously, why do you want to do this? You could do this whole thing as a side gig once you have guaranteed income from your pension. It seems crazy to me to take that kind of a paycut ($100k+ job, when I'm assuming Canadian buy-side entry-level comp is ~$70k or something) when 1) you have kids, 2) you've got a DB pension which I assume requires you to stay in your current position, and 3) have a large-ish nest egg, which you can manage anyway without having to quit your current gig.
Why do you want to do this?
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