r/Series65

I missed passing by 2 points. The hurt is real .

Fourth attempt coming up after failing by 1 point last September. Been using Achievable for relearning everything, Kaplan Q Bank, and STC flashcards while meeting with a tutor weekly.

Last two practice exams

Kaplan: 75, 78

Test Geek: 73

Any suggestions?

Note: This post was transcribed from my voice using AI because I didn’t feel like typing all of this out if anything sounds weird.

I just took the Series 65 exam today, and I wanted to share my study strategy since I found it pretty effective. I’m a senior in college majoring in finance and took the SIE last year, which definitely gave me some foundational knowledge, but there was still a ton I needed to learn.

My study timeline was about a month total. I started by going through the Kaplan book chapter by chapter, typing out all my notes. Once I finished the first pass, I took a different approach: I sent AI the pages from each Kaplan chapter and had it reorganize the material into a cleaner, more structured format instead of dense paragraphs. This made everything way easier to digest.

From there, I grouped the 24 chapters into sets of four. Each day I’d read through one set using the AI summaries, then take about an 80-question practice quiz on those four chapters. I did this cycle for all six groups.

The final stretch was key: three days before the exam, I focused on topics I was shaky on and worked through full practice exams. Two nights before and the morning of, I watched Series 7 Guru, Dean Moffett, and Mighty Ninety videos to reinforce concepts.

On test day, I’d say the exam wasn’t too brutal. There were maybe 20 to 30 questions where I wasn’t confident, but overall Kaplan did a solid job preparing me. The test really emphasizes regulations, fiduciary responsibilities, a lot on investment advisers/their representatives, and proper recommendations for customers more than anything else.

Anyway, that’s the playbook. Happy to answer any questions!

I felt I needed to post this as these types of posts helped me prepare and get in the right mindset for the test.

Test Prep: purchased Kaplan LEM, qbank and the cheat sheet (which really came in handy the last few days) several months ago. I felt Kaplan was confusing and overly detailed and began looking for a supplement. After researching I landed on the Finance Tutors (TFT) On Demand course. This helped me immensely and I would absolutely recommend to anyone who is looking to supplement their main study prep material. Great videos that breakdown details and concepts followed by extensive unit tests which helps the information settle in your head.

I focused mostly on practice tests. I did not read the LEM cover to cover. Everyone absorbs new materially differently. Started with testing on everything all at once then moved to individual chapter/units one by one. Then I created tests by the 4 exam “functions” (units).
I spent the last week REALLY drilling the qbank and TFT unit tests and rewatched the videos as needed for reinforcement. This was critical for me in the days leading up to the test.
Finally, the day of the test, (tested at 2pm) I
reviewed the Kaplan cheat sheet to reinforce concepts followed by listening to the strongly recommended Mighty Ninety video which I finished while I was sitting in the parking lot of test center.

Actual test:
Zero Roman numerals or super complicated questions. A few wordy questions I had to read a few times to make sure I understood what it was asking. In most cases I found I was able eliminate 1 or 2 answers right off the bat. I picked up the calculator 3x.

Topics that I had 1-3 questions on:
Business cycle, options, Warrants, Preferred stock, Treasury bills, P/e in relation to the stock price, REITs, Commercial paper, inverse etf, Closed end funds characteristics, Mutual fund loads, BD definition and operations,
Disadvantage of using sharpe ratio, Efficient market hypothesis, Modern portfolio theory - efficient frontier, After tax return calculation, Quick ratio, Opportunity cost.

Topics that I had a lot of questions, as expected:
Suitability type questions: what is the most appropriate security for a client looking for…., Types of risk, risks associated with different investments/securities, Investment adviser or IAR registration, IA filings & disclosures and Ethics.

The test is as they say - started off easy, gradually got more difficult in the middle, then easier as I got closer to the finish line. Don’t get jammed up in the middle, don’t spend too much time on a question, pick the answer you think is best - mark for review and move on.

This group is awesome and I wish those testing in the future the best of luck. You absolutely CAN pass this test if you put in the work.

I recently completed a grueling CFP course. I’ve decided not to pursue becoming a CFP due to the 6,000 hours of experience needed. I am age 65 and not interested in working for someone full time 40 hrs a week. It would take me 3 years to earn the 6000 hours.

Instead I wish to be a financial adviser offering my services as fee only ( advice only compensation) or fee based ( advice + commission compensation).

I’m leaning towards becoming an IAR and affiliate with a RIA so I can hit the ground running and have someone else manage back-end support and compliance.

I’m looking for this groups advice.

1. Will my completed CFP course help me pass the Series 65? Or should I take a S65 prep course, which one?
2. What RIA companies should I consider and why?

Thank you in advance.

Finally my exam day is quickly approaching, I have done my best these past 30 days coming off a 63 victory to prepare for the 65. I have used Kaplan and watched a few of Dean's videos and I am have been consistently scoring 73-78 my lowest score was a 70 and highest was an 80. Any last minute recommendations?

Second attempt! First attempt I was tired and didn’t sleep the night before. Test anxiety! This time I used hypnosis before testing and I think it really helped!
The first test was way different than the second, however I was also better prepared. Both test had concepts I had never heard of, probably due to creative legalese!

I started studying for the exam in February. I used Kaplan. I read the whole book but there was a lot of material I didn’t really grasp by doing that (especially around the different players IA/IAR/BD/agents). I scored a 60% on the midterm and a 70% on the practice exam. I did like 5 simulated exams after going through and trying to learn more about the concepts and it helped a lot. Ended up scoring 75-80% on all the simulated exams I did afterwards.

Did about 1400 qbank questions and my average was 80%. Here are my tips:

1. You don’t have to master EVERY concept—just the big ones. For me—I pretty much said “f it” to all the insurance, annuity and retirement shit. I focused on understanding the different key players, general econ concepts, different returns, risk v reward, diversification and security characteristics and it ended up helping me a lot on the exam.

2. The exam I took today had like 15+ ethics based questions. STUDY THE ETHICAL STANDARDS!

3. mighty nighty video the night before the exam —literally a game changer. 4-5 random things he mentioned that I had no idea about ended up popping up on the exam.

4. Study more on IAR and IA and less on BDs and agents. Kaplan makes it seem like both sides are tested just as much but that’s really not the case. The exam today probably had 3x more IA and IAR questions than it did BD agents. And the BD Agent questions were a lot easier than the IA IAR ones.

5. I’ve seen people say on here they only used their calculator once or twice, but I had about 6 or 7 questions that required me to calculate some sort of return or difference, so be comfortable doing that. At the end of the day the math isn’t hard it’s just knowing what goes where.

Anyways —hope this is helpful. If it makes anyone feel better when they’re taking their exam I 100% thought I was going to fail before I submitted. You got this!

No I didn't cheat. I took it once thinking I could just guess my way through since I have a BS in finance without having taken the time to really understand what all it consisted of. I failed, obviously. Second time I knew I just had to really lock in on laws and regulations. I did it solo, no firm sponsoring me or paying for study material and the $187 for the test itself (twice) was a lot so I looked for free options. They all sucked.

I ended up going line by line on the NASAA explanation of what is in the test, having Google Gemini summarize, and pull the sources of course to double check. On the stuff that was less niche, like economic trends and financial vehicles, I honestly just trusted that Gemini was right. I had it quiz me on long car trips. Had it lay out a 200 question test that I could quiz myself on, and that's pretty much it.

Not saying it was the best way, but it worked really well for me, and saved me a few hundred dollars in study material. My recommendation for those taking it, focus in on laws and regs. Assuming you know the basics of investing, I'd spend a bit of time on account structure and legacy planning, but for me, a lot of it had to do with notice filing time lines and stuff like that.

Good luck, especially to my unsponsored brothers and sisters out there lol

Welp I tried. Third attempt failed have to wait 180 days

I just failed a 2nd time utilizing Kaplan getting scores in the low 70’s on the practice exams. I’ve been studying for 11 months but I own a small business and have a family, I also work for an IA part time. Any suggestions-I notice I do great when doing test questions online with other companies but can’t push past a 73% on big exams for Kaplan although I get in the 80’s in some of the chapter exams. I already utilize Test Geek and Mighty 90. I’ve also had four different licenses in my past financial life… The brain just doesn’t brain like I used to. I’m in my 40s. 💗

I’ve been studying for the series 65 two months as of today.

Got through the Kaplan book in about a month and for the last month, I’ve been doing Kaplan exams. About a week and a half ago I switched to achievable and have been flipping back-and-forth from them because I felt like I was getting used to the Kaplan questions. Below are the most recent scores I have gotten on Kaplan over the last two weeks.

Kaplan Scores:
(Most recent) 113/140
97/140
89/140
100/140
100/140
108/140

Achievable scores:

(Most recent) 80/130
93/130 (only passing score)
68/130
75/130

I scheduled a test on May 14, which is about eight days from now and I want nothing but the cold hard honest truth. Am I ready for this? I think I’m just gonna drill chapter tests the rest of this week, this test is a different animal. I don’t remember being this nervous or this low confidence with the SIE and the 63.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

Hello all I will be taking my 4th attempt for the series 65 on May 21st. I’m starting to feel nervous not sure if it’s bc the scores I’m getting so because I’m 3 weeks away from test date. I’m using Kaplan and making dumb mistakes and getting 55-70s on my quizzes. What should I do ? Extend my test date or keep it. I really need to pass. I’m also using exam fx videos as supplement. Thank you all

I began studying 2 weeks ago and have gone from 52% —> 70% pretty quickly because I’ve been studying for 4-6 hours a day.

I feel like I’m really gaining momentum and I’m on fire right now.

For those of you who have passed, should I keep studying? Or strike while the iron is hot?

Should I take the test THIS Saturday (5/9) or next Saturday (5/16)?