I'm off to see the wizard...

I've decided to become a CFA (charted financial analyst) candidate. There are many reasons; the main ones being the typical ones (the challenge, help with my career, stand out in the finance industry). The challenge and reputation of the exams motivates me to do my best for them, and thoroughly prepare for them.

The first part (and hardest) to becoming a CFA Institute member is passing the 3 exams. The first (level 1) can be taken in June or December. The other two (incredibly called level 2 and level 3) can only be taken in June. So my plan is to take (and pass) the level 1 exam this December, level 2 next June, and level 3 in June the year after. It sounds simple enough, but it is going to be tough. There's a lot of material to cover, and with university until June (hopefully) and full-time work thereafter (again, hopefully), it will be interesting how I manage to stick to the study schedule.

To help me along, I'm going to keep a diary here. I'll record my study habits, successes, failures and discoveries. Hopefully it may help/motivate you too if you are a candidate. Please share your experiences of these exams by leaving comments/emails. It's going to be a hard 2 years, so any tips or advice will be appreciated by anyone reading this, as I'm sure many others have the same goal as me. Good luck to you all...

221 days until the level 1 exam.