By: PanzerGrenadier A Young man and his CFA notes I was sitting in the MRT in my daily commute and noticed a young chap reading Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) notes relating to fixed income and equities. In my years looking at what people are reading, I realise there are many people in Singapore who spend time, money and energy pursuing professional certifications as well as academic qualifications. This is usually after obtaining their basic qualifications to secure a job or career. As an accounting professional, I realise the importance of keeping up with your profession and standards as well as life-long learning. But I also realise the limitation of what you study vs. what you want to learn. Increasingly, in my explorations along my journey towards financial freedom, I’ve noticed that there is NO ONE TRUE PATH towards you goals in life i.e. financial freedom or to be successful in whatever you do. Indeed, successful investing and personal finance lies in not doing the crowd does, but doing something that is fundamentally common-sense which works in the long-term. Undergoing a structured learning course such as taking the CFA exams certainly helps you understand investments and finance better but it costs money and effort. I’ve realised that you can be fairly effective in managing your investments if you have a decent amount of common sense, am able to understand your own emotions of greed and fear and have a realistic view of how equity and security markets work. The main quality required for being able to manage your own money is patience and an ability to live within your means. With these two, coupled with a clear head and a plan, you can grow your money and safeguard yourself from the more common pitfalls of investing. Read more...