If I Pass L2, should I go straight for L3 next year?

A break will do you wonders. You need to experience the working world and live life - the CFA charter can wait.
 
As my username indicates I am also 40 years old…
Since the official retirement age in Germany for me will be (at least) 67 it could be the case that I will be in the job for the next 27 years. So, I think this is long enough to justify to take the exams…
 
Yea, I mean obviously you get less value from the charter the older you are (in terms of how many years you can benefit from holding the charter), but it’s still a great value at any age IMO.
And just to be clear, I’m not questioning whether or not I want to complete the CFA curriculum, just questioning when I want to do it. I’m 100% (well, maybe 95%) committed to the industry, but I’m also not the kind of person that’s going to work 90+ hours per week at an IB…just not worth it to me. Thanks for the comments though everybody. I hope I didnt jinx myself by already thinking about L3 before receiving my exam results!
 
danv0330 wrote:The CFA is much more valuable to your career in mid 20s.. No one is impressed by a guy just getting the charter in their 40s..
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I think what danv0330 meant is that using the charter to break into ER and the like is more efficient at 23yo than 40yo.
 
Agreed. It all depends on your experience. If you have none in finance and you count on CFA to put you somewhere at 40, it might be tough still. But I know a lot of experienced people with good senior positions in late 30s and still going for their charter. Mostly ppl who have started it in 20s but didn’t get to complete. Most of them don’t absolutely need it but achievement is well regarded in finance. Getting the charter doesn’t make anyone a genius but does testify to some meaningful achievement.
 
Hey, suck it up and do it. If you think you got it bad - here’s been my timeline since i graduated college in May 2013 (I’m 24, a CPA, and just took level 3):

May 2013-Sept 2013: Study for and pass all 4 sections of the CPA exam - total study time during this period: ~800 hours
Sept 2013-Dec 2013: Study for, take, and pass level 1 of the CFA exam (300 hours)
Jan - Feb 2013: Busy season (worked for a big four accounting firm at this point)
Mar - June 2014: study for, take, and pass level 2 CFA (400 hours total)
June 2014 - Dec 2014: Got sent to work in Utah for 6 months (with same accounting firm); worked consistent 70-80 hour weeks during these 6 months in possibly the worst state in the US living in a hotel.
January 2015 - June 2015: Moved to an equity research firm (couldn’t take big four BS anymore); studied for level 3- total study time for level 3: 450 hours
Total tally of study hours across all professional exams: nearly 2,000 hours in the roughly 2 years i’ve been out of school.
Finally got my life back – really really struggling to figure out what to do with myself - working 9 hour days with no studying and weekends off.
 
amr5434 wrote:
Hey, suck it up and do it. If you think you got it bad - here’s been my timeline since i graduated college in May 2013 (I’m 24, a CPA, and just took level 3):

May 2013-Sept 2013: Study for and pass all 4 sections of the CPA exam - total study time during this period: ~800 hours
Sept 2013-Dec 2013: Study for, take, and pass level 1 of the CFA exam (300 hours)
Jan - Feb 2013: Busy season (worked for a big four accounting firm at this point)
Mar - June 2014: study for, take, and pass level 2 CFA (400 hours total)
June 2014 - Dec 2014: Got sent to work in Utah for 6 months (with same accounting firm); worked consistent 70-80 hour weeks during these 6 months in possibly the worst state in the US living in a hotel.
January 2015 - June 2015: Moved to an equity research firm (couldn’t take big four BS anymore); studied for level 3- total study time for level 3: 450 hours
Total tally of study hours across all professional exams: nearly 2,000 hours in the roughly 2 years i’ve been out of school.
Finally got my life back – really really struggling to figure out what to do with myself - working 9 hour days with no studying and weekends off.
Click to expand...
You spent 800 hours studying for CPA? That’s absurd, I hope you weren’t also working while studying during those five months. And I don’t think I have it bad, but I’m also not sure if there’s a real advantage to taking the tests one after another if I can’t even meet the work experience requirement until summer 2018 anyways. Thanks for the post, living in Utah for half a year would be rough.
 
CPA is no joke, haha… Just knock it out, you’ll be happy you did. Think about how much motivation you’ll have after enjoying a year of regular life…
 
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