标题: CFA Fees are WAY too high [打印本页] 作者: johnnyBuz 时间: 2013-8-13 16:12 标题: CFA Fees are WAY too high
It costs $475 to renew all my annual membership fees. This is ridiculously too high, even if my firm pays them. Where is this money going?
It should be $200 or less, IMO.
The CFA isn’t worth that much IMO. I regret taking the exams because it took away from my career development. Plus, I have an MBA from a school that is more prestigious than the CFA. I’m thinking about not even using the CFA designation anymore. I no longer put it on my emails. It’s only on my business cards and reports. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself not to bother with the CFA…to instead study for the GMAT and doing well at work.
What are your thoughts? What do you think the dues should be in $?作者: Unforseen 时间: 2013-8-13 16:13
I’m betting your job isn’t in ER or AM ?作者: PieMan 时间: 2013-8-13 16:13
Aren’t the dues $275, or are you including some local society fees? I think that’s pretty reasonable. If you feel you’re not at least breaking even on the value it adds to you professionally, I believe you can become inactive for a period of time to see if you miss it or not.
Personally, I’m hard pressed to think of a career path that would lead you to getting the charter and not benefiting from it.作者: hassan 时间: 2013-8-13 16:13
I think OP is just bitter his job doesn’t benefit from the charter. Why would anyone give a damn about how expensive the fees are if your company pays for you?作者: bchadwick 时间: 2013-8-13 16:14
“less than $0.75 a day!”作者: jcole21 时间: 2013-8-13 16:15
I can see where the original poster is coming from to a certain extent. I found the material I studied for the CFA exams to be very useful and helpful for my career. I don’t get anything like as much reward out of the membership. My main interaction with the CFAI now is deleting the endless spam they seem to feel the need to bombard my inbox with. There so much that I am amazed I even noticed the reminder e-mail about fees.作者: WarrenB1 时间: 2013-8-13 16:15
$475 includes the local chapter fees, which you have to pay. It’s completely bogus. I change my mind…the fee should be like under $100 per year in total. But the key question each of you have to ask is what is your reservation price? What if the fee were $1000 per year….$2000 per year. At what price are you outraged. For me it is $475.
I worked in ER and now work in IB. Obviously, the CFA isn’t as useful in IB. In any case, once you reach a certain level the CFA is irrelevant IMO.
Thinking of $475 as a percentage of salary is illogical…thinking in terms of percentages is a common satisficing method. What you should do is cost-benefit analysis. I’m forcing my firm to pay these fees when instead they could be paying me more money….theoretically. Should the CFA Institute and NYSSA just keep charging you as high as you are willing to pay? Aren’t they not for profit organizations? What are they spending all this money on and why so much? If they cut their expenses, would it even matter? Why all the bureacracy?
I don’t choose fund managers based on whether they passed the CFA. I don’t choose equity analysts by CFA. I may hire a junior person based on the CFA. But once you are beyond the junior level, the CFA doesn’t matter anymore IMO.作者: kingstongal 时间: 2013-8-13 16:15
I wouldn’t throw $300 in the garbage even if I made $1M per year.作者: hoangvu90 时间: 2013-8-13 16:16
I’m only a level 3 candidate, but I’m betting after a few years of having the letters, I’ll probably stop paying the fees and just put inactive CFA member on my resume if I’m searching for a new job.
Still gets the point across that you completed the program. The knowledge didn’t go out the window once you stopped paying fees.作者: infinitybenzo 时间: 2013-8-13 16:16
“inactive CFA member” technically doesn’t mean anything because you can become a CFAI member without passing a single exam. If you’re going to drop the charter WHILE you are looking for a job, you might as well not bother. IMO all that says is “too cheap to pay the dues” or “doesn’t give a sh!t”.
I wouldn’t have a problem with the dues if they were spent on something worthwile, like making the CFA a more prestigious designation. Instead, they spend the money on things like idiotic logo designs.作者: Sunshine4ever 时间: 2013-8-13 16:17
i think the fees is way too high…for people like me who do not earn in dollars. it turns out to be a lot of money….and its only going to increase…even though im in AM, i agree with markbot…whats the point…作者: jonh 时间: 2013-8-13 16:17
Some professional organizations have tiered fees tied to annual compensation. Verification would potentially be complex, but I would prefer to se something like this in CFA land. $400 is really nothing to worry about for someone earning multiple 6 figures or higher, but for the unemployed, it can be a real issue.作者: zephyranalyst 时间: 2013-8-13 16:17
I believe it was established on another thread that you don’t actually have to remain a member of a local chapter after you receive the charter, so you could drop that part. I also seem to remember that you can get a reduced fee if you are unemployed for an extended period of time.
I don’t find the dues to be excessive, you can easily pay that much to play in corporate golf events, but my company picks up the tab.作者: justin88 时间: 2013-8-13 16:18
you’d think with all the new charterholders these days and the fact that most of their publications are electronic these days, the cost would be coming down作者: stalkey 时间: 2013-8-13 16:18
How the amount of the due was decided ? Who decided it ? Anyone can advise ?作者: ryanlb 时间: 2013-8-13 16:18
If you don’t bother with the local society, then the $275 is very reasonable compared to many other professional association fees. My annuals dues as a professional engineer are not much different…
Actually, in the case of an engineer, it can become quite a bit more expensive if you have to start having licenses in multiple jurisdictions (states/provinces). At least the CFA is a single, global designation.作者: yuoska 时间: 2013-8-13 16:19
CFA dues are peanuts compared with actuarial designations (specifically FSA, FCIA) or - as I’ve heard - CGA (I think this may be a Canadian only designation…)作者: b_sea93 时间: 2013-8-13 16:19
dont they provide 4-5 visits to 5 star hotels free of cost per annum . That way costs can be recovered作者: Viceroy 时间: 2013-8-13 16:20
To the OP, I completely agree with you. Please stop using the designation immediately and avoid paying the fees. Please do not associate with any other Charterholders or waste a single keystroke on any other forums – I can tell you that your path is 100% spot on.
As a paying Charterholder who doesn’t waste any time counting nickels and dimes in a long cashier line, I can tell you that folks like you exiting the Charterholder pool will only vastly improve the credibility and likeability of the remaining members. Thank you for volunteering to thin the herd, friend.作者: Chuckrox 时间: 2013-8-13 16:20
I actually want the CFAI to increase fees and start recording the exams. The CFA program is a lot, lot cheaper compared to some of the best hacksaw graduate programs out there. When you consider the practicality of the topics and the overall returns, it is phenomenal value.作者: Carson 时间: 2013-8-13 16:20
the fees are a write-off and you get 6 copies of FAJ and 6 copies of your Society’s magazine. Without the CFA designation, I’d end up paying over $100 a year in magazine subscriptions anyway and wouldn’t have any letters to put after my name. as long as they remain under $500 in today’s dollars (currently are $425 where i’m at), i have no complaints. call it a charitable donation if you want and move on.作者: cv4cfa 时间: 2013-8-13 16:20
all professional dues are expensive, same for accountants, same for lawyers, etc.
but i don’t complain about it since i don’t have to pay it :-S作者: jeffli 时间: 2013-8-16 09:18
