Beginning the CFA Journey

I have been contemplating this for a while now. It was a couple of years after my university days and I thought that this was something that I was really interested in and should get started on, even as I was serving out my scholarship bond. But I guess so many things happened in the past few years – wedding, BTO, baby, etc. – that life got in the way and this got pushed to the side for a bit. Because of this extended WfH that my workplace is still on for the foreseeable future, I thought I could eke out some time to sign up for financial courses and pick up more financial knowledge.

So I did some research on my own, looking out for some courses to take on. Then I realised that almost every course were running into thousands of dollars for a couple days of workshop. And from what past attendees have shared with me, you usually need to attend a number of workshops before you get something tangible. After the few free SGX workshops that I signed up, I thought I had picked up some knowledge already but I was pretty sure there was still more to learn.

So I recalled my desire to take the CFA examinations previously and assessed the cost (see below) as well as the level of preparation required of me. Most people say that I need upwards of 300 hours to prepare for the examination sufficiently. There is even a website with that title dedicated to helping candidates plan and prepare for the examination. I figured that with my mathematical background that has familiarised me with some statistics, I have some decent grounding, but only in certain topics. This can at best compensate for more preparation time that I will likely need on the Economics part (which I never studied at A-Level) or the Ethics bit (which while I consider myself a reasonable ethical person, is probably quite a different standard when it comes finance). There are some decent freebies that are provided on the website – free practice papers and free study plan. So I am pretty hyped up that I am not short of resources.

So just yesterday, in the name of lifelong learning, I signed up for the February 2021 CFA Level I examinations. It cost a whopping USD 1,150 because I signed up during the Early Bird phase (which ended yesterday). If you are interested, you can find out more details at the website. I also learnt that it will be the first sitting where the examination is carried out online, which is really a sign of the times ahead. Cost wise, I think the registration fees are really just the beginning – I had a look at the online materials and decided that hardcopy textbooks are more suited to my studying style, and then there’s a financial calculator which I need to get too. And if you are so inclined, there are courses run by Kaplan to keep you on track, but I think that I should be able do without that.

All in, it will be an intense 6 months. I think I may even be writing less now that I have decided to take this up. I just hope that my discipline can see me through this period and pass the examination eventually so that I can move on to Level II next.

Anybody else who will be sitting for the same paper in February? Will be useful to find a study buddy particular for revision because my wife is not as keen. Or if you have any tips and tricks or an experience to share if you have gone through the process before? Wish me luck!