I want to start studying for the CFA, but I’m in a Masters in Finance program until May 2022. So balancing all that schoolwork, plus a full time job, and then CFA stuff is a hard no.
So I’ll wait until registration for the 2023 exams open up to actually register and purchase the big study packages. BUT, something I’ve been debating with myself about: would it make sense to buy the cheaper $200 2022 CFA Institute books and get some light studying done in the meantime as a head start?
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I’d hate to waste money but I feel like the extra studying could be useful. And that it might also be necessary for me as I struggle to grasp certain concepts, like bond duration and a few Econ topics
Extra studying means extra review. It’s best to just cram it all in 4-6 months. If you want to study something early it might be ideal to learn Ethics and do Ethics practice questions.
Very valid points. Plus I could look at YouTube videos or other resources in the meantime
Perhaps a different discussion - but do you need the CFA if getting the MSF? If going into ER or a fixed income desk then disregard
Yeah good point. He didn't say what his field of choice would be; the CFA charter may be irrelevant.
I don't plan on going into ER or FI and I currently work in valuations so I mean, I guess I truly don't NEED to get the charter, but it's been a goal of mine for a couple years and the Partner I work with daily highly recommended it so now I feel obligated. We also get a bonus for completing each level I believe.
Attended level 1 within the last week. I started studying early-to-mid August 2021 and put in ~280-285 hours. Enrolled for level 1 to attend May 2021 when I was in my masters and it was a no-go. I flushed that money down the toilet like an imbecile. Working full-time, I'd say on average I was able to do around 10 hours a week.
Personally didn't use the PDFs/books almost at all, I was entirely using their online center thingy. I know people who were using shorter-form summary-type materials and my conclusion following the exam is that there certainly is a lot of fluff in the material where they basically try to make it digestible, but as a result tack on tens of hours.
To go more directly at your question, I don't think there's strong value in "light studying". There are some topics where you will be able to remember details, but as a whole, it requires recent memory of formulas, and solving questions - a little bit like the theory part of a car license examination (we have that here, idk how popular that is elsewhere). My biggest mistake was when I finished the material 1 month before the exam, I let loose for around 1-1.5 weeks when I badly needed that time to work through the ~3000 questions again. Only was able to go through 1200 questions on the second go, targeting the weak points of my mock exams.
This was EXTREMELY helpful hearing it from almost my exact POV and from someone that recently took the exam, I appreciate the insight. I’ll definitely hold off then until after graduation.
How do you feel you did? What was the hardest part in your opinion?
I went into the examination with 2 mocks in the mid 60s - one was fresh after finishing the material with 0 revision, and the other one was with partial revision. As a whole, I held 80% going through the material on-the-go.
My general prospects were that I had a couple strong topics in the 80-90% range (mainly derivatives and AI) and a bunch of topics within the margin of error (65 to 75%). My stronger topics all fell onto the afternoon session and my weaker topics all fell into the morning session (I was seriously underperforming FSA). After the exam, I left it with the exact opposite feeling - I overperformed morning and underperformed afternoon. I felt a bit hard done by the formulas that I needed in the 2nd session because I know the same questions were formulated with easier calculations for other people. As a whole, one impression that I saw which I agree with is that the material you prepare with has these long-winded questions that basically force you to notice 1 word out of 200, but none of these made it in.
My personal weak points I suspect were equities and FSA - did not get the optimal questions there and found myself second-guessing frequently. Probably flagged a lot of the questions in these sections too, but as a whole, I didn't find myself in a time squeeze.
Think of it as an organic chemistry course. By the end of it, you won’t remember what you earned at the start.
Instead, you can go straight into exams and pick off sound bites / key pieces from the curriculum so at least you’ve covered off archetypical questions. Once you have the bones, then start filling in with the meat… otherwise it’ll be hard to remember a thing.
Not exactly answering your Q but will say, questions > reading. Just keep doing Qs and read the answers and reasoning in the back
Assuming you've got a decent knowledge base in finance, this is your best ROI on time + method to determine where you need work. It's also less mind-numbing
Should add to my comment. I don't think light studying is the way. Back to ROI point, anything you do halfway is likely to turn out relatively low ROI. Commit..maybe it's just 30 mins a day, but try and make it a bit more meaningful
Sounds like you have plenty of time. So again it may be best to do some Qs, find where you're weak, and then use that to setup a study plan as you get closer to test time
Don't.
Yamete
I would wait until you are at the 6 month mark and start heavy then. You don't want to have burnout in the last few months and F yourself. Also you will have forgotten and experience memory decay the farther out you start. From what I've read and experienced 4-6 months is the sweet spot for each level.
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