TS: I've passed CFA Levels I & II, and I can personally say it's not too difficult if you do the studying, but only if you've done some finance work. If not, it may be greek to you at first, but you can pick it up as you go along. Don't know about Level III, planning to take next year

tan8: I think you can, but to be a CFA charterholder, you need four years professional experience in a relevant field (banking, finance etc), IIRC.