Tips on Passing Your Securities Test

Contributions done by Justin Martz & JW Rayhons

It is not an easy path to become a financial advisor. Amidst several hurdles are the registration exams that must be passed prior to giving financial advice to customers. The tests are not easy and require a large amount of studying, focus and mastery of the material. It is said that the series 7 has approximately a 65% pass rate while the series 66 exam has roughly a 73% pass rate! Knowing that these tests are both necessary and challenging I want to provide some tips on how to be best prepared to take these exams.

Set yourself up for success

Give yourself enough time to study the material and books for both exams, as they are large and exhaustive. In order understand that material well enough to apply it to questions and scenarios I suggest around 80-100 hours with at least 1,000 practice questions. This varies per person, so study hard and trust yourself for the time it takes to be comfortable with the material.

More than memorization

Second, these exams are designed to test your understanding of the material to apply it to real life scenarios. You cannot just memorize quiz answers to pass these tests. It will be important to memorize some formulas, dates, and regulations but strictly memorizing those without understanding how they work in different scenarios will be detrimental to passing.

READ THE ENTIRE BOOK

There are multiple programs that can be used to study for these exams for instance STC or Kaplan to name a few. No matter who you use you'll receive large books to read and study in addition to gaining access to quizzes. Some people have a strategy to just take quizzes and learn as they go. Though this may work for some, it does not work for most. It is important that you read through the entire book, quiz as you go, and focus in on areas that are difficult or tested most often.

Leverage multiple resources

There are many different resources to leverage that can help when tackling difficult concepts. Besides having study partners to practice with you can find several YouTube channels and Podcasts designed to help people pass these tests. There are both free and paid for resources, look around for the ones that are best for you! and Personally I love the ones you can listen to while driving, shopping, and running errands.

Finally take practice quizzes and exams

Most prep material programs come with a quiz bank that you can leverage through your study process. As you study, take as many quizzes as you can to be very familiar with the material. As you progress, continue to make the quizzes longer and take pre tests as well that are as long as the actual test. Not only will this help you learn and retain the information but it will prepare you to take these long tests and to pass them!

There’s more to life than money! The Rayhons Financial family are professionals that want to help you. Connect with us for an initial conversation, call us at (480) 507-2425 or contact us online. We’d love to meet you.

Justin Martz is a Non-Registered Associated Person with Cetera Advisor Networks, LLC. Justin cannot offer securities or advisory services.

The content in this article was prepared by the article’s author. Cetera Advisor Networks, LLC does not endorse its content, and the views expressed may not necessarily reflect those held by Cetera Advisor Networks, LLC.