Dante Buono
New member
- Jun 23, 2026
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I put this together and it took me about an hour to type, so hopefully it helps more future charterholders get through Level I.
I 100% overstudied (went a little under 6 months) but it was the best call I made, because Level I is the foundation everything in Level II and III is built on. My mentor told me to study to understand, not just to pass — finance is basically the science of money, and once these concepts truly click, you'll know what to do with money the day you have it. So make it real: open a brokerage and actually look at a bond's YTM vs current yield, pull up a real options chain, find the 3 statements in a 10-K and watch net income flow into cash flow. When you can SEE it, it sticks.
I'm a systems nerd, so I turned the whole curriculum into a structured outline. Here's the breakdown.
Exam Outline + topic weights (read first):
The Ultimate Study Guide to Passing CFA Level I:
Gamified CFA Study App, Readings, mocks, exams, ect. Duolingo for CFA) :
Question Bank (150+ exam-style Qs):
Study Materials + a 90-Q mock (300Hours):
FREE YouTube (Mark Meldrum, the GOAT of free CFA content):
Put your reps in on Ethics and FRA, do every mock you can, and trust the process. Good luck!
I 100% overstudied (went a little under 6 months) but it was the best call I made, because Level I is the foundation everything in Level II and III is built on. My mentor told me to study to understand, not just to pass — finance is basically the science of money, and once these concepts truly click, you'll know what to do with money the day you have it. So make it real: open a brokerage and actually look at a bond's YTM vs current yield, pull up a real options chain, find the 3 statements in a 10-K and watch net income flow into cash flow. When you can SEE it, it sticks.
I'm a systems nerd, so I turned the whole curriculum into a structured outline. Here's the breakdown.
Exam Outline + topic weights (read first):
- https://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfa-program/candidate-resources
- https://soleadea.org/cfa-level-1/topic-weights
The Ultimate Study Guide to Passing CFA Level I:
- Ethics — the 7 Standards (I–VII), know them cold
- Standard III (Duties to Clients) + Standard VI (Conflicts — disclose everything)
- GIPS (voluntary, firm-wide, comparability)
- Time Value of Money (PV/FV, annuities)
- Effective Annual Rate (EAR)
- NPV vs IRR (NPV wins when they conflict)
- Money-weighted vs Time-weighted return
- Standard deviation, normal distribution, z-score
- Hypothesis testing (Type I vs Type II error)
- Elasticity (price/income/cross)
- Market structures (perfect competition → monopoly)
- Fiscal vs Monetary policy
- Exchange rates + interest rate parity
- The 3 statements + how they link
- Revenue recognition (5-step model)
- FIFO vs LIFO in rising prices + LIFO reserve
- DuPont decomposition of ROE
- Liquidity / solvency / profitability ratios
- Deferred tax assets vs liabilities
- CFO / CFI / CFF (direct vs indirect)
- Capital budgeting (ignore sunk costs)
- WACC (after-tax cost of debt!)
- Operating vs financial leverage
- Modigliani-Miller (with/without taxes)
- Market efficiency (weak / semi-strong / strong)
- Gordon Growth DDM (own this formula)
- Justified P/E and P/B
- Bond pricing = PV of cash flows
- Current yield vs YTM vs Yield to Call
- Spot vs forward rates
- Duration (Macaulay/modified/effective) + Convexity
- Inverse price/yield relationship
- Forwards vs Futures (futures mark-to-market daily)
- Options: calls/puts, intrinsic vs time value
- Put-Call Parity
- Long call breakeven = strike + premium
- Swaps = series of forwards
- "2 and 20" + the J-curve (alternatives)
- Systematic vs unsystematic risk (only systematic is rewarded)
- CAPM + the Security Market Line (beta)
- Efficient frontier / CAL / CML
- The IPS — Return, Risk, Time, Taxes, Liquidity, Legal, Unique
Gamified CFA Study App, Readings, mocks, exams, ect. Duolingo for CFA) :
Question Bank (150+ exam-style Qs):
Study Materials + a 90-Q mock (300Hours):
FREE YouTube (Mark Meldrum, the GOAT of free CFA content):
Put your reps in on Ethics and FRA, do every mock you can, and trust the process. Good luck!