mere mortals
this… obviously I respect experience and understand that “finance” is more than something you can just learn from a textbook… but the key word is “capable”.
personally… i plan on starting my own “asset management firm” in the next 10 years, not saying its going to be the next Apollo Capital, but I love trading and managing investment portfolios. The CFA just legitamizes my credentials. If I can earn enough to get married and have a family I will be happy.
I think that some of the “nostalgia” for the CFA, post-completion, comes from the excitement of learning things that you feel may make you a better or more competent investor and investment professional. I always thought that when I completed the program, the “right” things to invest in would be much clearer than they were before.
Alas, that is not the case, and it can be a bit disappointing to realize that every investment still feels risky and uncertain, even after all that work.
However, all is not lost. The curriculum does probably reduce your likelihood of making totally bonehead mistakes, and it does help you create portfolios where good judgement is more likely to be rewarded than not, even if any individual decision is uncertain.
So some of the nostalgia is really about te excitement of learning things you hope will make you better at this.
This, I like it.
Maybe I’ll regret it later, but I’m on the steady path to getting the charter. It’s everything I’ve ever enjoyed learning about in school and reading about on my own for fun. When in class and we start to talk about this sort of material, I always wish we were able to go more in depth instead of skimming the surface. The CFA will do that for me. Why wouldn’t I want to be “certified” at something I love? I do not have zero intention of going into asset management or investments. I think after a career of business analytics for a handful (10+ years), I might like to go into investments, maybe. The CFA material is highly relevant to general business decision making, not just to a career in investments. Understanding the global business environment is important and I think the CFA does a great job of teaching this sort of thinking.
This will not end well. This is all easy to say when all you have done is fill out an online registration form…not dissuading you, but if I were in your shoes I would be thinking there is no worse use of my life than cranking away on this stuff, seriously. Read it for fun at a leisurely pace, putz around with it like a hobby, but you have a very long and difficult road ahead that is only worse because you have no real reason to traveling on it…
I’m prepared for a world of hurt. All I can say is that if it ever gets in the way of life in a devastating way, it will go. I understand it is difficult, I understand it takes a poop ton of time and stress. I feel, being young, I can manage it. I don’t really feel like I’m missing out on too much other than more clearheaded quality time with my girlfriend. I’m willing to get through that over the next few years though. I’ll play it by ear. I do want this. People telling me it’s hard is not going to dissuade me. I’ve spent enough time on this forum to hear how terrible people’s lives have gotten while going for the charter, and I totally get it. The same reason they sucked it up and kept going is the same reason I will as well, because I want it bad. Maybe near future career moves were the motivator for others, but my motivations (for me) are incredibly strong.
rayankh…the program wears on you. Plus I think you have a midunderstanding about what it teaches you. I was like you in the beginning…you will look back on this and laugh in a few years when you eventually get to L3 and beyond…bookmark this.
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Interesting material
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Good credentials
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Kind of exclusiveness??? At least in my country o_O
Wanna get qualified for a better job related to finance.
Jobs nowadays are difficult to find with only an undergrad degree and without internship experience.
Went to interviews before and the a recruiter found me too green for a junior financial analyst position.
Hope the CFA process plus my accumulating work experience will get me a better professional job.
I’m sure the program will wear on me. I also have a decent understanding about what it teaches you having read through each level’s LOS’s. That being said, I don’t know how I will handle the roughness ahead. I don’t think it’s up to anyone else to try and predict either. Given that most people fail these exams, it’s really easy to be a pessimist. I can only imagine the number of people who gave up (not just the CFA) because of the negativity around them - others implying they likely wont make it, said it’s not worth the stress, or that they’ll regret it later. For some of those people who gave up, it might have been the right choice. Who are we, though, to say whether someone should go for it or not? Many of those people could have gotten through with encouragement and may have been better off in different kinds of ways having done so.
I feel there should be more positivity. You can tell someone they’ll likely not make it through or that they’ll regret it and you’ll likely be right as the odds are in your favor, but what good will that do at all? It’s okay to make sure they know what they’re getting into, but if they still decide to move forward I think they’d be better off being encouraged.
Positivity is in short supply on this forum. I do my best when I can.
That said, it helps to have a tough skin in this industry. Can’t hurt to start practicing now. 
Why I started:
Cheap. $5k vs $300k Bschool
Continue current job. more experience
Hoping better career.
Still young. (+age includes: losing ability to take big exams, potential family, heavy responsibilities at work)
Fear of being left behind. 85k+ charterholders and 170k+ candidates. Today’s it’s already 100k+ charterholders. scary.
hey iteracom, how old are you anyways? I agree with the need for more positivity eventhough i am probably not a sustainable source of it for myself or others around me.
Better to have an objective opinion than a positive one, if you ask me. Most things you do in life are not going to make a difference. However, if you do 10 things, chances are one of those things will pay off. Think of CFA like that, I guess.
Positivity/encouragement is different than sharing an opinion. I’m not saying people should paint a positive picture for others when they, in fact, think differently. But, if someone actually wants to take on this challenge after knowing full well what lies ahead of them, who are we to question that? Support is way better. I think many times people don’t know full well what is ahead of them, but that’s different.
If I came on to this forum starting a thread asking, “Do you think I should try to go for the CFA designation?” then obviously I am welcoming opinions since I am clearly unsure. Instead, I shared with everyone why I wanted to get my CFA with little doubt about doing it and people seem to think my motivation is not good enough. So what if I don’t share the same reasons as the average person who goes for it and succeeds? The last thing anyone in my shoes wants is a person trying to bring them to so called reality. I think attempting to give “objective opinions” (oxymoron?) is dangerous when it comes to someone else’s life, especially when they aren’t asked for. There are so many variables that you can’t account for.
@bchad - I’m glad you feel that way. Seriously, it helps when people are gunning for you.
Well done sir!
Well, you live long enough and you realize that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. And that fortune rains surprise on everyone, both good and bad.
Positivity and optimism are approaches to uncertainty. If you don’t know how things will turn out, but it is important to you, you can adopt a “it probably won’t work” attitude or a “I can do this” attitude (which might have to be revised to a “I can do this if I work my butt off” attitude).
There’s no guarantee that a positive attitude will help matters, but it is likely that a negative one will hurt - people miss opportunities because they’ve already decided it’s not going to work, etc… Or the Michael Jordan quote: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” To take a positive attitude is more a defense against the self-fulfilling prophecy of negativity than a magic incantation of its own.
The danger of overpositivity is that you underestimate risks, so the key to staying positive is to make sure you look at what can go wrong and evaluate whether you can afford to risk that or not.
And there is virtue in trying something hard, in itself worthy of respect. We are all fighting our own battles, and I think it’s important to realize that we may all find ourselves face down in the mud at times, and there is no value in giving aid and comfort to those who would smile at others’ failures in their lust to stroke their own egos.
^ it’s actually Wayne Gretzky’s quote. It’s a classic.
You have a way with words. Truer words are seldom spoken.
I don’t know if you’re a dad, but you’re kids are/will be/would be lucky if they have access to advice like this.