My new challenge
As I kind of hinted at in last month’s blog post, I have decided to take the Financial Planner 3級 test in January.
The main reason is that I would like to learn more about personal finance in Japan, and it would be useful for this site if I had some formal qualifications.
The FP tests are not as scary as I first thought. There are three levels, level 3 which I will take in January, level 2, and the top level 1.
Level 3 consists of a theoretical exam (2 hours) followed by a practical exam (1 hour). Luckily both are multiple choice, so I won’t have to embarrass myself trying to write kanji by hand.
Level 2 is similar, except that you have to write for the practical exam (although it seems to be mainly writing numbers, which I can handle).
Level 1 consists of a theoretical exam and an interview test. The pass rate is under 10% for this one. Might hold off on taking it for a while 🙂
So what’s on the test? Budgeting, retirement, educational expenses, pensions, real estate, investing, taxes, insurance, disability, and inheritance.
Right up our alley! The level 3 test costs 6,000 yen (3,000 yen for each of the two sections, which can be taken individually -good news if I fail one).
I took a past paper to see where I am at before studying, and got the following results:
Academic paper = 27/60 (pass mark is 36)
Practical paper = 10/20 (pass mark is 12)
So not too bad. Either I know more than I expected or it’s a pretty easy test (or I lucked out with the multiple choices).
There were quite a few kanji I didn’t know and a fair amount of content (inheritance law, land utilization law, and how to calculate various things) but I am feeling pretty good about January.
Next step is to look up all the words I didn’t know and read one of those study guides.
I’ll post again with updates once I have a chance to study a bit.
Anyone have experience with Financial Planners in Japan?
I actually took a course designed for people wanting to take the FP tests. I didn’t really plan to take the tests – just wanted a course to improve my Japanese and it looked like the most interesting. Horrendously boring lectures. I literally could not stay awake in the classes and I wasn’t the only one. Half the Japanese were falling asleep, too. Amazing how such a fascinating and useful topic can be rendered completely boring by a bad teacher. During the 4th lesson, I had to leave before I throttled the teacher and never got around to going back.
Next time, I’ll follow your self-study route 🙂
Good luck with the course. Sounds like a useful way to learn local knowledge and to improve Japanese.
Hi Brian
That’s actually really helpful, as I was considering buying one of the (expensive) DVD courses. My listening is way better than my reading in Japanese, so I thought it might be a good way to learn some of the terms.
I suspect you are right though, and it would just be incredibly boring and a waste of money 🙂
I’ll see how I do with my books.
I haven’t studied for this test, but I’d guess a good textbook and some practice tests are the way to go, at least until you get to that interview level. Not sure exactly where you are with the kanji comprehension, but knowing you’re at least business literate, it’s really just a matter of making a vocab list and memorizing the terms.
Will be interested in your updates!