CFA LEVEL 1 EXAM - HOW TO PASS

How to pass level 1 of the CFA exam. The CFA program is the gold standard credential for financial and investment analysis. It covers ethics, economics, financial accounting, equities, fixed income, derivatives, portfolio management, and more.
The best way to improve your score on the CFA exam is to work through as many practice problems as you can from start to finish. Even if you understand the topics intellectually, you might not be able to do the actual problems on test day if you don't have enough practice. Try to get through the readings quickly, so you can focus on doing more practice problems.
In my personal opinion, the CFAI materials are all you need to pass the exam. If you do all the practice problems the CFA Institute gives you, you will be prepared for any question they will put on the actual test. Test prep providers can be useful for understanding concepts you find particularly challenging, but I wouldn't rely on them exclusively.
The amount of time you need depends on your existing finance knowledge. If you know nothing about finance, it will probably take you the full 300 hours or more to pass the exam. If you've already done an undergrad or master's degree in finance, it may take you less time, but you still need to do a lot of practice problems to be prepared. The main challenge of the CFA Program is the amount of material, not necessarily the difficulty of the individual topics. Stick to a schedule, stay consistent, and you can pass this exam.
To memorize formulas, I recommend practicing writing them out from memory for a few minutes per day in the month leading up to the exam. This leverages spaced repetition and active recall, two of the most powerful study techniques for remembering information.
Don't overthink it! If you put in the work, the rest will take care of itself.
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#cfaexam
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#financialeducation
- TIMESTAMPS -
0:00 Intro
0:13 #1 Tip
1:16 Study Materials
3:00 How Much Time?
4:31 Remembering Topics
5:07 Memorizing Formulas
6:33 Practice Exams
7:10 Don't Overthink It

[@JoeMaule]

Please remember to like and subscribe! What else have you found helpful when prepping for this exam?

[@princegupta8500]

Sir please provide your study material notes so it's helpful for me...

[@mehakkaushal6313]

Thank you for pouring real concern and help into the videos....it's probably the only videos on whom I hit like on KZbin 👍

[@JoeMaule]

Thank you for the support!

[@nasrinsultana8515]

You advised honestly.Thank you so much.

[@Guillermo.hernandez]

Best video so far, thanks!

[@JoeMaule]

I appreciate it!

[@crownedchronos592]

Great tips! Thanks. Congrats on passing the CFA! 🥂

[@JoeMaule]

Thank you!

[@gradoscapital]

Great advice thank you!!

[@gkollias14]

Great tips

[@rohanprajapati7492]

Thanks for amazing tips 👍🏼

[@satyendranarayan9013]

Very helpful 👍👍👍

[@dinaseptiani4267]

Thank you very helpful.. May i know how much CFA test level 1?

[@vasanthpragash854]

I have given the exam and am waiting for the results. Some things id like to point out 1) The decision for provider vs self depends on the candidate, your familiarity with the finance field/experience and how comfortable you are with self learning. Prep providers may not include niche topic areas, but self preparing candidates may focus too much time on obscure areas and loose marks on other more weighty areas. I would recommend a prep provider if you have no prior background or need a strong routine ie classes at 6pm every day or so. 2) Never burn the mock tests for doing practice problems, take the tests in full exam condition. The CFA candidate resources has many practice problems you should use them. Edit: Cleared the level 1 exam. The pass rate was very low 25% for May exam.

[@nisargshah7119]

Hello...my exam is in july ...can u tell me how was yhe difficulty level of the exam ?

[@nisargshah7119]

The*

[@vasanthpragash854]

@@nisargshah7119 the syllabus is vast but the exam itself is easy.

[@tapz02]

what song is in the background???

[@JoeMaule]

Walking in the Sky by Nico Staf - found it in the free youtube audio library in KZbin Studio

[@KG20014]

Hi thanks for your informative video. I’m currently a junior in college and wonder if I should get package online to study for the exam or just use cfa institute materials? I also plan to take cpa after I graduate.

[@JoeMaule]

Hi Kristy, if you're finding the CFA Institute materials too dense, other study materials may help explain the concepts more clearly and concisely. Either way, I'd come back and do all the CFA Institute practice problems for review.

[@martincontreras6031]

LONG LIVE PATAGONIA!

[@kartikiyer4189]

I am an actuarial student right now in my final year of my undergraduate degree. I feel like I am more interested in finance than just insurance etc. I also heard FSA is very difficult to obtain as well as a the oversaturation of actuaries in the job market. I will probability start studying for CFA level 1 exam in november after my exams. I dont have much finance knowledge other than a finance elective and accounting elective in first year. I watched your other video about just reading the CFA curriculum and studying other questions from qbank. I was wondering If I study 2 hours a day, is it enough? What order should I read? Any other tips? Thank you

[@JoeMaule]

Overall, I think it's most important to be consistent, and and to focus your efforts on practice problems once you have a general grasp of the material. The total amount of time will be different for everyone, but most people start studying about 5 months before the exam, and plan to finish the books at least a month before the exam so you have time to review. If you track your progress over time, that will tell you if you need to speed up or are going at a good pace. 2 hours a day is a good place to start, and you can adjust from there.

[@HengGuitarist]

Is the actual exam close to the mock exam? (approximately percentage in your opinion for level1) And for prepare CBT level 1 practice the problem (in CFA Cirriculum) or practice Mock or both Thank you

[@JoeMaule]

The mocks are definitely good practice, it’s hard to predict if the exact topics will be tested in any given year. The more practice problems you can do the better, from mocks, end of chapter, wherever you can get them. I don’t think the material is much different being a computer based test now, but maybe someone who took it on the computer can answer that.

[@RahulPal-bo1gz]

Thank you for this amazing information. I've completed my graduations to start the journey do i need to take the CFA Foundation or Can i start with CFA Level-1? and i have researched a lot about the scholarship of CFA I am not getting the update regarding the scholarship how to apply, when to apply, and what need to keep in mind before applying scholarship.

[@JoeMaule]

I did not take the CFA Foundation so I am not as familiar with it to be honest. My understanding is the Foundation program is to learn the basics of the industry, mainly for people who work in other roles like legal, marketing, or operations. The full CFA Program is for careers making actual investment decisions. I think you can go straight to Level 1 if that’s the type of career you want.

[@RahulPal-bo1gz]

@@JoeMaule Thank you i really appreciate!!

[@upstateNYfinest]

I disagree about not getting a prep provider. Mark meldrum did a phenomenal job of teaching the material, and if ur not willing to spend 300$ after shelling out 1.5k to sit for this exam you're a fool

[@AviatewithAbheer]

Can an average student pass level 1?

[@JoeMaule]

People who are usually good at taking tests might have an advantage, but I believe anyone can pass if they have a plan, put in the effort, and enjoy learning about investments.

[@easy60]

Hi, will it be sufficient to practice blue boxes and EOC + 2 mock exam of website for level 1 , pls advise.

[@JoeMaule]

There are no guarantees with this exam unfortunately but yes I know many people who passed using only the CFA Institute material. The most important thing is that you can work through the problem from start to finish and completely understand it.