Dear Forum Members I am 40 years old and have around 15 years work experience. I have no background or experience in finance. Now, I want to move into field of Financial Analysis and am contemplating working towards CFA charter. Request your views whether such a move is possible and advisable. Have people successfully done it before? Thanks a ton.
Yes…if that is what you REALLY want to do,it is possible and will be effortless…don’t listen to negative views. I know a guy who went back to medical school at 40 b/c he was miserable at IB and wanted to be a doctor…he is so happy…never to late till you are 6 ft under…
if you really love it: sure, why not? some practical considerations: - you need 4 years work experience before you can even get the charter - at the moment, there are many people who have the charter (+ much more experience than the bare minimum) struggling to get interviews. for example: do a search on hezagenius, a CFA charterholder. seems like an intelligent and extremely well-qualified guy and he’s having a crazy/scary/tough time finding positions. do you think you can honestly compete with people like him who has a CFA charter, MBA, engineering degree, AND work experience? - it seems your age might work against you at the interviews, plus, it might suck to report to someone more than a decade younger than you. - what is your salary now? and how does it compare to what an entry level analyst (or other finance role) would make? - are there other positions in finance that you would like to do that aren’t exactly financial analysis? for example, if you are an IT guy, you can still make a good living there working/programming for some financial institution without doing finance or studying for the charter. i’m sure you can make it if you really wanted to, but you really have to love it and wonder if it’s a wise tradeoff between the following: time, energy, salary
He could go into private wealth management, I mean those guys dont know anyhting anyway.
^ you mean, private equity? lol j/k
No chance. sorry
Well I know some places in the world where that medical school story would be completely impossible. In Québec, for example, where the state pretty much pays for all of your medical school (students also have fees, but marginal ones in comparaison), a person who missed some years will never get into medical school. It costs the state alot of money to make a doctor, so they don’t want to invest in someone who will be able to serve society x years less. I know in France, however, it works some other way: pretty much anyone can enroll, but 2/3 get thrown out in the first year, and another 2/3 in the second year or something like that. Wait…sounds familiar… In any case, I also regret not being a doctor. Sometimes I feel like I should do this crazy thing of starting over at 29 and doing medical school. To the TS: what is your current job ? I guess your best move might be to get an mba and become some analyst for the industry you have been working in.
jsang Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dear Forum Members > > I am 40 years old and have around 15 years work > experience. I have no background or experience in > finance. Now, I want to move into field of > Financial Analysis and am contemplating working > towards CFA charter. > > Request your views whether such a move is possible > and advisable. Have people successfully done it > before? > > Thanks a ton. I know this lady who is now retired and changed to finance at age 37. She joined PwC Corporate Advisory at 38. Her boss then was 8 years her junior. Last year, she retired as a Partner from the same firm. She is now doing volunteer work, and serving as a board member with my Graduate School. It is possible. Just follow your dreams, not the money.
What’s your education background and what is your current job? It’s easier for a Harvard Business School Graduate who worked at McKinsey for 15 years to move into “finance” than it would be for a guy in some random undistinguished role. I don’t think any input here will be useful without being tailored to your situation.
CPA is better if you want to be a financial analyst
^in the words of John McEnroe - you cannot be serious. CFA is much better IMO for a financial analyst role.
BTW jsang…I remember seeing a handful of people who looked 40+ at my CFA testing center every year…you just need to make sure it is something you will enjoy doing and find a niche where you can add unique value as an analyst…maybe first hand sector or country experience. It will take up most of your free time from Jan-June 1ish…so if you have a significant other, kids, etc you might want to take this into consideration.
sublimity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if you really love it: sure, why not? > > some practical considerations: > > - you need 4 years work experience before you can > even get the charter > > - at the moment, there are many people who have > the charter (+ much more experience than the bare > minimum) struggling to get interviews. for > example: do a search on hezagenius, a CFA > charterholder. seems like an intelligent and > extremely well-qualified guy and he’s having a > crazy/scary/tough time finding positions. do you > think you can honestly compete with people like > him who has a CFA charter, MBA, engineering > degree, AND work experience? > > - it seems your age might work against you at the > interviews, plus, it might suck to report to > someone more than a decade younger than you. > > - what is your salary now? and how does it > compare to what an entry level analyst (or other > finance role) would make? > > - are there other positions in finance that you > would like to do that aren’t exactly financial > analysis? for example, if you are an IT guy, you > can still make a good living there > working/programming for some financial institution > without doing finance or studying for the > charter. > > > > > i’m sure you can make it if you really wanted to, > but you really have to love it and wonder if it’s > a wise tradeoff between the following: time, > energy, salary Excellent post.
You should do it mainly for the challenge, but study hard because if it turns into a 4 or 5+ year marathon then it’s just not worth it. Frankly, at your age (trust me, I know firsthand), your chances of getting a job will depend on who you know, not what you do or do not know per se. Most finance jobs talked about on this board are white collar sweatshop positions for 20 somethings who will drop out or be forced out before they are 30 or 35. In some cases though, people land in the right department on the right desk at the right time and can make a lot, which is their point of getting on that treadmill. Know where you want to go with the charter because you can’t go back into the typical analyst trainee track at a big firm. Nevertheless, there are lots of opportunities as it is a vast field of work.
jsang Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dear Forum Members > > I am 40 years old and have around 15 years work > experience. I have no background or experience in > finance. Now, I want to move into field of > Financial Analysis and am contemplating working > towards CFA charter. > > Request your views whether such a move is possible > and advisable. Have people successfully done it > before? > > Thanks a ton. bro, you could potentially be 47 years old before you can put those 3 letters next to your name, think about it. is this what you absolutely want to do?
I say go for it. When I was taking my level 2 class at BSAS there were some guys who looked like they were in their 60s and def a couple of 30s and 40s year old in there. But like others were saying it might be hard to break into the field at age 40. Expect a big pay cut and you’ll probably have to start out all the way in the bottom. But you still have 20-30 more working years ahead of you. But you should rethink your strategy and try to do a ft top 10 MBA and get recuited into a FO role. Maybe a 1yr program from LSE or Northwestern.
EMBA?
40 is not too late AT ALL! I got my charter last year, during my reward ceremony at my local society, one of the newest charterholder was in his 60’s. I later on find out he began his switch from biology background to investment field when he was 45. Here is my only advise to you, you need to be 1000% sure this is the field you want to be in. Given your background, it will take at least 4 years to get your charter (assume you pass all exams bak-to-back and you have a job that counts toward working experience). If at age 44, you say to yourself investment is not what you want to do…good luck!!
JohnnyMarr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes…if that is what you REALLY want to do,it is > possible and will be effortless…don’t listen to > negative views. I know a guy who went back to > medical school at 40 b/c he was miserable at IB > and wanted to be a doctor…he is so > happy…never to late till you are 6 ft under… I’m like that guy. I wish I could go to med school. I’m in my early 30s but having kids is a major hurdle to a career change. Kids are evil.
Err, so finance is not a magic field that will be instantly rewarding. If I was 15 years into another career, I would have to think hard about tossing out all that experience in favor of some analyst job in which I would have limited potential for advancement due to lack of experience relative to age. Just because you know some person who got a CFA at 45 and became an analyst doesn’t mean that this was the correct choice for him/her. That’s why specific situations matter. If you have a crappy career and nothing to lose, then go for it. However, if you already have a comfortable job that pays more than what an entry level analyst gets, then you should think about if this is really the best option.