Saturday, July 30, 2011

Going back to School

Recently, I found out that I failed my CFA Level II examinations. It was unsurprising considering that I did not have sufficient preparation given the change in my working schedule.

For the moment, I do not intend to take the Level II again next year, because I feel that a Master's education would be more suitable for my course of work. My some times client-facing, research function job requires me to write a lot more, and there is little financial analysis (although it would be good to have).

If I were to pass the CFA Level II and then Level III, it will cost me about SGD 4,000, bulk of which is to pay for the exam registration. This is definitely the cheaper alternative compared to the Master's course that I intend to sit for, which I estimate to be worth possible at least SGD 12,000. However, it is important to note that the CFA is a self-study certification programme and is very well-recognised across the world. For the Master's degree, it sometimes suggest to employers that you have a lot of money and time to further your studies.

There are also other consideration as well, namely, how setting aside the money for the studies will impede on my life-cycle. After all, I do intend to get married and have to pay for two big items, a wedding and a house. SGD 12,000 may not mean a lot over the course of one person's life, but it can contribute to a comfortable interior design for the first home, or a very nice holiday away from Southeast Asia.
 
Fortunately, I have until the end of October to decide whether or not I want to do a Master's or not. Preliminarily, the cost will be a big issue that I have to sort out with myself.

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