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300Hours: Finance Certifications Hub for CFA, FRM & CAIA

are third party cfa prep books necessary

Third Party CFA Prep Books: Do You Need Them? Is CFA Curriculum Enough?

Zee Tan

23 Feb 2026

CFA, How To Study

Third-party CFA prep materials decision: CFA curriculum: 3,000+ pages per level vs prep notes: 1,200-1,500 pages Average time saved: 100-150 hours using condensed materials Trade-off: 5-10% content omission risk vs massive reading time reduction Best approach:Use third-party notes for first pass (Schweser, UWorld, etc.), then CFA curriculum End-of-Chapter questions to catch gaps. Always use curriculum for Ethics (10-15% exam weight, borderline pass tiebreaker). Cost vs benefit: $400-1,200 for prep materials vs opportunity cost of retaking ($1,000+ exam fee plus 300+ study hours). The CFA curriculum covers ...