Late last year I decided to study for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, so despite the unfavorable CDN/USD exchange rate I signed up for the early bird June 2016 sitting of the CFA Level 1 examination. It still cost me almost 40% higher in exchange rates.
My study plan is roughly as follows:
- 01/09/2016 – 01/23/2016: Financial Reporting & Analysis
- 01/23/2016 – 02/13/2016: Economics
- 02/13/2016 – 02/20/2016: Equity
- 02/20/2016 – 03/05/2016: Corporate Finance & Portfolio Management
- 03/05/2016 – 03/12/2016: Derivatives
- 03/12/2016 – 03/19/2016: Practice Questions
- 03/19/2016 – 04/02/2016: Fixed Income and Derivatives
- 04/02/2016 – 04/16/2016: Alternative Investments and Ethics
- 04/16/2016 – 05/30/2016: Practice questions (includes reviewing more important topics)
- 05/30/2016 – Test Date: Review and rest
The schedule looks extremely packed, but having studied roughly 30% of the exam material already in my previous studies it shouldn’t be too difficult to follow. I’ll spend roughly 6 days a week studying the material, and the final day as a day for review and rest. The strategy is to go through the majority of the materials, taking notes on material relevant to the Learning Outcomes Statements (LOS) of each chapter. Then work on a large number of practice questions and reviewing the material. Someone suggested studying for Ethics last because it’s the seal that puts together all the other topics together, hence I put it after Alternative Investments. I should have roughly 1.5 months of practice time before my test date, which should be more than enough based on what I’ve seen.
To deal with the boredom of long term studying I’ll be regularly summarizing here the basics of what I’ve learned and my personal experiences in dealing with the more difficult topics, although from what I’ve researched none of the material would be too difficult until CFA Level 2. It’ll be a nice way to review the study material as well as checking how well I’m following my own study schedule.
chinglishthoughts 