Buying hardcopy CFA Institute preparation books?

CFA General
#1

Hello,

I am new to this forum, and I am not sure if this question has been asked before, and I can’t find the search function on this forum, so I think I will just ask.

I am debating whether I should buy the hardcopy of the test preparation books from CFA Institute (they provide e-book when I registered, but it’s better for me to have hard copies. I don’t like to read on electronic devices) or from other publishers. My questions are:

  1. Is CFA Institute’s material better than other publishers’?

  2. Does the version of the CFA Institute preparation book matter? I am going to take the level 1 exam in June, 2019, and see many people are selling theirs (2018 version) on Amazon. Wondering if I need to get the newest edition or not.

Thanks in advance for your help.

#2

I used Kaplan for all 3 levels. I like the weekly classes to help keep pace and they have a good question bank to practice.

#3

  1. Depends on how you define better. Most definitions of better I think would support the official curriculum as being the single best source.

  2. You need the most current version.

#4

I bought both the CFA books and books from Wiley. I haven’t gotten the most recent books from Wiley yet, but I was looking at their older books and here is what I’m doing. I’m going through the CFA books first. I noticed that the CFA books have more details, but not as much practice. They also have a lot of questions. So I want to practice with them first. Then I’ll turn to the new Wiley books when I get them and start going through them because they have more concrete examples and more understandable language.

I did buy the paperback books from CFA. I cannot study online. I need paper so I can highlight and write on the books and the CFA e-books are not very friendly to that. I tried downloading them to my tablet to write on them and I couldn’t. I tried printing them and that didn’t work either, so I ended up paying for the paperback books.

#5

I bought the books. They’re only $150. As a percentage of the total cost of level 1 it’s really not a significant expense.

  1. In terms of the best study materials. I suppose that depends on your study preferences and style. I prefer to have the complete texts and to chose what I read and don’t read myself. I have the impression that the other texts are just abridged versions of the CFAI books. I believe in drilling questions so I plan to buy the q-bank from Kaplan and Wiley. I will also buy their practice tests. My wife wants me to get the Videos too. I haven’t decided on that yet. Maybe. Sometimes I need to review materials in different formats to really get it.

  2. The curriculum gets updated every year and they tell you about it on the CFAI site. I suppose you could pass with old books if you want to risk it. But why? Get the books and watch the free Videos on YouTube if cost is a problem. Fitch has free Videos.

My books just came yesterday. It doesn’t look like a lot but you can tell they are dense with material. My wife’s eyes almost popped out. My CLU book it twice as thick and half as heavy. lol. Make sure you have a study plan and stick to it.