If Topper thinks that he can put forth minimal effort and get past Levels 2 and 3, then I’m sure he’ll still be on Level 2 in 2015 and 2016.
I have met many Charterholders, and I have NEVER met one who didn’t put in AT LEAST 300 hours per level on Levels 2 and 3. Not a single one.
And I have NEVER met one who claimed to put forth a lot of effort at Level 1 and still failed. Sure, there are some (like me) who don’t study for Level 1 and fail. And there are many (like me) who study a lot for Levels 2 and 3 and still fail. But I have NEVER met one who studied hard for Level 1 and still failed.
In his defense, I’m assuming he mistakenly thought you had put 700 hours (or whatever it was) each for Level I and II. Still, it was an awfully douchie comment.
Greenman: Despite of the fact that your post has a lot of negative viewpoints, I see a fact here: It is not a rose road to become a charter holder. We need huge committment to reach the end of the road. It will helps some people to realize the reality. However, most of your issues came from personal issues(wife, children, working time…) rather than the difficulty of the test (I believe if people spend significant time on the test, they can pass no matter who they are (600-700). It is just the issue of committment, so I think it is better if you can clarify the point in the first post, so people just do not get misleading information.
In addition, I just dont understand some points. (1) why after having MBA, CPA degree, why dit you still try to have CFA degree?
(2) While having so many troubles with CFA program, why dont u just quit? I think the purpose of study is to increase your knowledge, not totally to improve your salary (I guess you earn at least enough for your family). With your degrees that you have (MBA; CPA), I think it is easier to turn back than a lot of people who do not own anyone. And interestingly, although you passed the CFA test lv 3 (congratulation on that), you still regret about your decisions in the past.
Seriously man? The Level 3 test causes borderline alcoholism and will destroy your marriage? I mean it’s a difficult test, but you’re just being the harbinger of doom here.
Met a fella in the exam center this year who just wrote LIII, said he studied less than 100 hours for L1 and less than 150 for LII, about 200 for LIII Crazy s**t if he’s being honest, I have a strong accounting background (I think we’re in a similar boat) and could not have possibly studied less than 200 hours for L1
Also - local CFA Society chairman studied less than 250 for al three; that I believe though.
I wanted very much to post a message on here knocking your efforts, sacrifices and thought logic along your path for the CFA charter. With that being said, congratulations on enduring much to obtain this accomplishment. I cannot possibly write a hate-fueled message because you have been through the journey and I have only just begun.
Firstly - I wholeheartedly agree with your main point. I put in 300+ hours towards level 1 and if I don’t clear the exam tomorrow, I must seriously re-evaluate my desire towards becoming a charterholder because I know L1 is just the tip of the iceberg.
With that being said, AF should be a place for motivation and encouragement. I appreciate the fact that you’re being a realist, because life has a tendency to slowly wash away the naiveness within all of us; what remains is a bitter [green]man who is filled with regret. Let’s not forget it was your naivity, and poorly educated decision that led you to fall victim to the “golden ticket” fallacy by believing you could become a portfolio manager with a background in tax management. I appreciate your wide-eyed zest for self-betterment, but my advice to you is:
AF should be a place for helpful, objective advice. Recognize the fact that everyone is in their own unique situation and has their own path and plan. Yours didn’t pan out, we get that.
If you’d like to make a useful impact on L1 candidates, I encourage you to start a new thread. Keep your comments objective and forgoe all your inner demons that beckon you to whine. By seeking negativity or by encouraging combative comments, you are only fueling the fire and driving attention away from the truthfulness of your message.
If you’d like to keep encouraging a hateful thread, then by all means continue building on the sorrowful legacy of greenman.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to go on record by all here on AF by saying you have chosen to share the most idiotic quote in modern times. A truly idiotic quote is characterized by its profound failure to provoke any sort of thought within the reader. How can someone possibly mistake lack of talent for genius, unless you yourself lack the brain cells to differentiate (or we’re talking about contemporary art). It seems that you, and peter steele fell victim to his own axiom.
First fella was writing LIII this year, the CFA society chair level III 8-ish years ago. There are definitely some smart people out there, I wouldn’t be shocked if someone got through them all on less than 200 hours studying
@itera I don’t believe someone needs to introduce alcoholism/ familial relations/ self-loathing because these tend to be the by products of how an individual handles stress and should not be used as an argument as to why someone here should quit the program.
I’m not now, nor have I ever been an alcoholic. I’m still happily married with two beautiful kids, and I don’t think I hate myself. I never said any of these things about myself. Somebody else said these things about me.
@s2000magician my comment expressed the counter productiveness of being discouraging
@greenman72 what if someone encourage you to quit? would you lead a better life today? do you wish you would have quit instead of continuing with the program?
What about the counterproductiveness of wasting time when youshould be doing something else? Misplaced encouragement is as counterproductive as you suggest that discouragement is.
Sometimes encouragement is warranted; other times, discouragement is warranted. You seem to want only the former.
Looking back, I could have spent a lot less time and money doing the ASA and the CFP, and would still be doing the exact same job, probably for the exact same amount of money.
If there’s a single client of ours that knows the difference between CFP and CFA, I’ll be very surprised. Most of them are more impressed by the CFP, simply because it’s recommended by Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey.
Not saying that I didn’t learn a lot of stuff, or that my overall “thinking process” hasn’t improved. When I read WSJ or The Economist or something, I understand a whole lot more of what’s being said. I understand the fundamentals of valuation and discounted cash flows better. I understand the mathematics of how to calculate the expected standard deviation of a 2-asset portfolio.
And someday, when I’m talking to an 80 year-old widow, I might actually break out the “square root of the sums of the weight of asset A squared times the variance of asset A plus the weight of asset B squared times the variance of asset B plus twice the weight of asset A times the weight of asset B times the expected covariance, which is, of course, the product of the correlation times the standard deviations”. I’ll let you know how that turns out.
sure. I don’t think encouragement is misplaced on AF as you’re speaking to a community with the potential to impact the world. i have a great deal of respect for you s2000magician but i don’t see how you can’t buy into this given what you do.
^Somebody bump the thread where a guy says, “I wake up at 8 a.m. and have to be at work by 9. I don’t get to leave until 6:00. Then I work out and eat. That barely leaves any time to study. How do you guys do it? I don’t know how I’ll ever find time to study for Level 1!!!”
If anybody has the potential to change the world, it’s certainly this guy. You know, having to wake up at 8:00 a.m. really takes its toll after a while.