Hi All,
I passed the Series 66 a couple of hours ago on my first attempt. I used Achievable for the "book", using their written material, quizzes, and exam, along with purchasing Kaplan Qbank questions. I didn't really like Achievable for the Series 66. I felt there was too much interpretation and not enough of just the straight facts of how things are. I loved Achievable for the SIE (which I passed on first attempt) but didn't love it for the Series 66. I would probably find another resource for the text portion. I also felt Achievables practice exams and quizzes were too heavy on knowing the math for the ratios and other problems.
Again, someone could very easily read what I read via Achievable and loved it. Regardless, here are my recommendations for the exam:
My Recommendations:
- You HAVE to watch Kens brutal exam on YT. I watched his videos a couple of days leading up to taking the test, and it was the difference maker for me
- There will be questions on the exam you just straight up have no idea the answer to on first read through - and that's ok. Use process of elimination to give the best answer. I'm convinced that at least 5 questions on the exam were purposefully not in any study material but were there to make you use your critical thinking of what the best answer was when there wasn't an obvious "right" answer
- My strategy was to take about 5-10 seconds after reading the question to come up with my snap judgment answer. I would then move on to make sure I finished the entire exam. After answering every question, I would reread each one and be a little more thorough in evaluating the answers. It's too easy to get stuck thinking about what could be right, and you don't want to have to rush at the end because you took too long on a single question.
- Know NPV, PV, and IRR - solidify why you use those and the formula (kens video had a couple of questions that were very similar to the exam with calculations)
- Know annuities and the life insurance questions - it's annoying seeing as how this is a state exam about securities, but I had about 10 questions about universal life insurance, variable annuities (which are securities), and fixed annuities
- Be 100% on who has to register as an IR - even if they're LATE (Lawyers, Accountants, Teachers, Engineers). I also had several questions about Federal Covered advisors and when they need to register in other states
- I had maybe 7ish questions on current ratio, debt to equity, and/or PE ratio - you don't need to memorize the formula to do the math, you just need to know what goes into the formula. There were questions giving what was in the formula, and then you had to name which ratio they were talking about
Good luck all!