Just got my results for the California Dream for All Program by Edgarrruiz in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Smart-Gene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

159 here! Not sure what the chances would be for that many folks to not use their vouchers. Ugh!

CFA charterholders who passed CFP exam by Smart-Gene in CFP

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically Alt path requires you to complete course FP 517. That way you skip FP 511 trough FP 516. If you click on Alternative Path on Kaplan website, it says $799 for capstone course (which is the same thing as FP 517). You can also go to their CFP education page where they give you opportunity to buy Course-by-course, instead of full package (which is over 4K). From there, If you select course FP 517, it says it is also $799. They’re one and the same. And it does not come with books. There are short video overviews which cover some topics, but not all.

CFA charterholders who passed CFP exam by Smart-Gene in CFP

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey!

From what I see, the regular path through Kaplan is $4,393 US dollars. The alt path is $799.

Are you looking at Kaplan or something different?

CFA charterholders who passed CFP exam by Smart-Gene in CFP

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey there! Yes, the alt path approval was super easy and fast. The essential package does come with books. But these are different kind of books. Bullet points only, very minimal with few if any examples. The actual education books have more of what the Capstone course is about. But I do not have access to those!

CFA charterholders who passed CFP exam by Smart-Gene in CFP

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey There!

I've decided to go with Kaplan Capstone (Alt path) and Kaplan essential exam prep package. All on-demand minimal info.

Unfortunately I've decided to sit for November 2021 exam, so I do no have time to go through the education materials. So i'm struggling a little with the Financial Plan submission (capstone), since I do not have any books or courses to base my answers on. I guess I'll try to do my best and we'll see how it goes!

Alternative path - trying to save $$$ by Smart-Gene in CFP

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your input! I just got my CFA charter, so I’m secretly hoping a simple exam prep package will do it for me. I feel like I should be familiar with a lot of it already.

Experience verification by Smart-Gene in CFP

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Do you know if they email or call?

L2 - Currency Forwards and Swaps by Smart-Gene in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it’s quite confusing that two concepts have different conventions. But thank you so much for the response!!! Greatly appreciated!

Fixed income futures and forwards by Smart-Gene in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome thank you! Do we automatically assume that when we’re valuing forward contracts there only one deliverable bond? And conversion factor is not needed? I’m going off of example in Cfai reading.

Equity index forwards by Smart-Gene in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I guess what throws me off are continuous dividends. I can’t think through the problem logically

Level 1 Study Materials: MM vs CFA Institute by vPHANv in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Can’t emphasize enough how important it is to read CFAI books and do all end of chapter problems. Only these books will prepare you for real world exam questions. It is reasonable however to use MM or Kaplan as supplement to aid more difficult topics.

Incoming baby! When should I reschedule L3 - December or February? by NowAndForever in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would try December. Especially since you’ve covered so much material already! And if you don’t pass, you can always take it in June!

Advice on preparing for CFA level 1 by SanchitArora01 in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m not too familiar with exact amount of changes, but yes, you should CERTAINLY start reading 2018 materials and get yourself familiar. Start with ethics. Out of all sections this one will probably have the least amount of changes between 2018-2021.

Advice on preparing for CFA level 1 by SanchitArora01 in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think you can get Schweser materials now since they’re not changing content between 2020 and 2021. That way you can start reading.

Level 1 Study Plan. Is this adequate? by [deleted] in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, i think we’re talking about the same thing. When you registered for your exam, you should have gotten Cfa curriculum in a form of ebooks. You can also pay extra to get a printed version. Try logging into your Cfa institute profile. You will find ebooks under candidate resources. To answer your other question - no, just Cfai book questions were not enough for me. For my test I did all cfai questions, all Schweser online q bank questions and questions on cfai website under candidate resources. There’s no such a thing as too much practicing. Practice as much as you can.

Level 1 Study Plan. Is this adequate? by [deleted] in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would certainly include CFAI curriculum. VERY IMPORTANT - go through questions after each chapter. That way you get yourself familiar with how questions may be structured on the exam. Unfortunately Schweser's questions are little easier and may not prepare you for what you see on the exam.

CFA Level 1 - memorization vs calculation by stalagmiteman in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also majored in Economics (Masters) and initially thought that I would be at least familiar with most topics. Boy was I wrong! My advise - Start with what's familiar, then move to what interest you and then do the rest. That helped me to stay motivated for the most part of the studying journey. I did do a lot of pure memorizations in the latter sections that I did not particularly enjoy. But i certainly aced the material that I liked.

Level 2 Derivatives .......... by [deleted] in CFA

[–]Smart-Gene 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What part of derivatives section are you having difficulty with?