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Do you work in AM / WM? If not, don't do it. If you think L1 is hard, L2 will be a very rude awakening 

Only reason I'm doing it is because I work in LO (equities). Can be useful to WM professeionals too but otherwise for anything else in finance / business, MBA is superior. And it doesn't cause you to sacrifice your life for a while as B-school is basically a joke. Be 100% sure you want to be a LO analyst, otherwise go out and enjoy life 

I'm taking L3 soon and really just want to put this crap behind me. Last thing I want is to have to deal with CFA in my late 20s 

 
Sequoia

Do you work in AM / WM? If not, don't do it. If you think L1 is hard, L2 will be a very rude awakening 

Only reason I'm doing it is because I work in LO (equities). Can be useful to WM professeionals too but otherwise for anything else in finance / business, MBA is superior. And it doesn't cause you to sacrifice your life for a while as B-school is basically a joke. Be 100% sure you want to be a LO analyst, otherwise go out and enjoy life 

I'm taking L3 soon and really just want to put this crap behind me. Last thing I want is to have to deal with CFA in my late 20s 

Good points.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I’m currently an assurance associate in a Big 4 audit firm.

My goals for the next three years is to:

  1. Become a chartered accountant professional, which requires me to complete three years of audit experience + passing 5 exams (long, structured questions).
  1. Getting the CFA charter, to eventually jump into AM right after audit; like you, I don’t want to complete my CFA in my late 20s, I want to complete it before I turn 26. Right now I’m 23.

To surmise, I’m doing the CA exam and CFA exam while working in a Big 4 audit firm. I know that if I do the CFA, on top of CA exams, that I’ll probably fail. However, cause I failed just below the MPS (and my lowest scoring sections are sections that I didn’t prepare that much for - ethics, Econs, derivatives) I’m planning to retake L1. When is the issue.

 

LO Fixed Income would be your best bet if you're that set on AM. Not trying to be a dick, but LO Equities is brutally hard to break into even with the right pedigree (top school, came straight out of undergrad or after 2yrs at a top IB / ER). Personally have never seen who didn't come from a top undergrad jump into AM out of school. For those with work experience, every single one has come from another AM / ER / IB

Just letting you know, if Equities is the LT goal then grinding thru the 3 levels of the CFA will be very disappointing in the end as it would only marginally improve your chances 

 

I’m currently an assurance associate in a Big 4 audit firm.

My goals for the next three years is to:

  1. Become a chartered accountant professional, which requires me to complete three years of audit experience + passing 5 exams (long, structured questions).
  1. Getting the CFA charter, to eventually jump into AM right after audit; like you, I don’t want to complete my CFA in my late 20s, I want to complete it before I turn 26. Right now I’m 23.

To surmise, I’m doing the CA exam and CFA exam while working in a Big 4 audit firm. I know that if I do the CFA, on top of CA exams, that I’ll probably fail. However, cause I failed just below the MPS (and my lowest scoring sections are sections that I didn’t prepare that much for - ethics, Econs, derivatives) I’m planning to retake L1. When is the issue.

 

Starting in L1, the CFAI is a lot better at crafting challenging questions than in similar college courses. Even though it’s only 3 answer choices now, it’s still pretty tricky. You really have to ‘master’ the material and take mock exams before the test to be adequately prepared.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I do not know anything about that accounting exam but preparing for the CFA exams is a lot of work.  Most people take the exams while working full time which makes it even more challenging.  Adding another exam on top of all of that is probably not a good idea. If becoming a CFA charterholder is important to you, I would temporarily drop the other exams you might be taking.

 
IncomingIBDreject

In accounting the CPA is extremely important. Many jobs require it. It is not like the CFA in finance which is for the most part (outside of AM) optional.

I can't tell if your comment is directed at me or not.  I already know about the relevance of these exams for these industries. At the time I commented, the OP did not mention anything about his career.  

 

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