If you know you’re going to have a career in Finance by all means please go with the CFA first. I majored in Finance, and ALL my finance professors stated how much more valuable you present yourself to any future employer if you have the CFA designation. The CFA designation 100% shows to any future employer that you are fully aware of all of the important concepts in finance, bar none. (The Master’s in Business is still so general, while the CFA specifically deals in Finance). There is so much rigourous training, followed by some of hardest exams known in America, that with the eventual weeding of all the CFA hopefuls who last until the very end there is no better way to put yourself ahead of the pack to prospecting employers. I know somebody who is going to start the path of obtaining her CFA this fall and I wholeheartedly agreed with her decision to pursue it instead of hopping straight into an MBA program.

I would also recommend obtaining a Series 7 license while you’re doing your CFA if you can (you’ll need sponsorship from a major organization though). The only problem with a CFA is that while it’ll show how valuable you are to an employer in terms of Finance, you still can’t legally sell or talk anything about securities, bonds, treasuries, investments and so on without the Series 7, making the CFA kind of mute until you get the Series 7.

I myself plan on getting the Series 7 first soon, then move onto the CFA path. Hope this helps.