This exam simulates the actual exam and features questions you haven’t seen in your studies thus far. Connect with a Kaplan instructor for personal assistance anytime as you prepare for the exam. With this online resource, you can communicate directly with securities content experts and get your questions answered within two business days. Annual updates to the Series 65 exam are done with examiners taking the time to create new and revised questions based on current laws. These examiners take the time to weigh each question carefully to make sure a question is not too difficult or easy. All scores are kept in the Central Registration Depository (CRD) for employers and regulators to access.
And the Series 66 covers similar ground and allows takers to be registered as both securities agents and IARs. A self-paced course is best for independent learners who like being able to move at their own place. It’s also a good choice if your schedule doesn’t permit attending a live class.

If you are a PFS, a Personal Financial Specialist, extended from your CPA license, you’re waived out of the Series 65. And then if you have the CIC, which is the Chartered Investment Counselor program from the Investment Adviser Association. So you need the Series 63 and the 6 or 7 to get paid for selling securities, and the Series 65 to get paid for investment advice. The Series 65 is what you need specifically to become a Registered Investment Advisor. So we have the Series 65 for doing investment advice, and we have either the Series 6 or the Series 7 for selling securities products.

Best Series 65 Exam Prep Courses & Study Guides of 2023

This test was designed by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and requires you to answer over 70% of all questions correctly to earn a passing grade. It might be hard to find your footing in the world of investment finance, and you wouldn’t be the first person to struggle with this very important step in your career. The general knowledge section of the exam covers laws, regulations, and unethical practices related to professional ethics for investment advisors. You’ll be expected to understand the different types of investments and their underlying characteristics, as well as securities markets, portfolio management concepts, and economic indicators. Series 65 is a comprehensive multiple-choice test composed of 130 questions. It evaluates knowledge that prospective IARs need to competently render investment advice and abide by securities laws and regulations.
The Series 65 exam contains 140 questions, ten of which are unscored, and you are given a time limit of 3 hours. The unscored questions, which are called “pretest” questions, are used by the exam administrators to evaluate questions for future versions of the exam. The pretest questions are unmarked and mixed amongst the scored questions, so you will not know which are the pretest questions. She compares the Series 65 to the certified financial planner exam, saying the breadth of material covered for the CFP is much greater and requires more synthesis of the information you learn. “Memorizing information is good enough to pass the Series 65, but it wouldn’t be good enough to pass the CFP exam,” she says.
The Series 65 Exam
is made up of 130 multiple choice questions, which you’ll have 3 hours to answer. It’s a multiple choice test, and you’ll be provided with a basic 4 function calculator. Passing the exam will qualify you to act as an Investment Adviser Representative in some locations, but the test is not easy!
Before you test you should shoot for an average score of 75-80% on practice exams. Assuming you are working full-time while preparing for the examination, you should allow yourself 4-8 weeks or 80 hours to read through the material and complete practice exams. The Midterm Exam is a cumulative exam designed to test your comprehensive knowledge at the midpoint of your exam preparation. This exam can be taken only once and provides answers and detailed rationales for each question.
Today, Ken continues to use those finely tuned skills to educate students as a professional writer and teacher. Unfortunately, most of the worthwhile features provided by Kaplan are locked behind the premium instruction package. But unlike SIA, the prices for these upper echelon courses aren’t very competitive.
The Series 65 Exam Secrets Study Guide allowed me to zero in on the materials I needed to learn giving me much relief that I wasn’t focusing on less important material. The additional bonus items also were a great help allowing me to know ahead of time what to expect and be prepared for the test with as little anxiety as could be possible. I’m happy to report I passed and am on my way to huge profits with my new job. Get yourself prepared and familiar with the level of difficulties. Anyone taking the Series 66 must first complete FINRA’s Series 7 exam, which enables a planner to be registered as a broker at the federal level.
Learn key definitions and concepts on the NASAA Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam with Solomon Exam Prep Series 65 exam digital flashcards! The perfect supplement to our industry-leading Series 65 study materials, the Solomon Series 65 flashcard pack will help you learn foundational securities industry definitions and concepts with ease. We believe you can perform better on your exam, so we work hard to provide you with the best study guides, practice questions, and flashcards to empower you to be your best.
Comes with Pass Probability™, Solomon’s industry-leading AI technology that measures your readiness to pass your exam. Candidates who take those steps, she says, should perform well. Series 65 Exam Secrets Study Guide is our second place entry on our list of best Series 65 Exam guides. It comes complete with a comprehensive overview of all exam topics, and great practice questions. For less than $200, enrolling in Achievable’s Series 65 prep course provides access to their online study text, which is broken up by regular practice quizzes and full exam simulations.
A big name in the instruction business, Kaplan provides a rounded experience in Series 65 exam prep course. Paired with their already supportive product, Kaplan’s video library provides short review videos based on actual exam questions. The Securities Institute of America provides robust and price-effective options that fit well with any student looking to properly prepare for the series 65 exam.
Students who have studied for their securities exams with Achievable have gone on to work for some of the top financial institutions in the world, including Blackrock and Goldman-Sachs. The secret to their success is a powerful adaptive learning tool that utilizes spaced repetition to ensure that each concept is fully memorized and understood before moving on. The North American Securities Administrators Association is lowering the passing score for the Series 65 exam to 70% from 72% and has updated the content of the Series 63, Series 65 and Series 66 exams. You’ll have three hours to complete all 125 questions, so it’s important that you manage your time wisely by focusing on answering each question accurately rather than rushing through them. To get ready for the exam, start by understanding what topics will be covered. The Series 65 exam covers topics on Investment Adviser Law, such as fiduciary standards of conduct, financial planning concepts, and taxation issues.

The other 10 questions are experimental questions that appear randomly throughout the test and don’t count toward the candidate’s score. On your homepage, the “My Scores” button will provide you with a snapshot of your progress. This section provides you with your score per attempt as well as the amount of time spent testing. After completing multiple exams, this function will allow you to identify the topics representing strengths and those representing weaknesses. The topic breakdown is based on the chapters in the study manual. We work with institutional partners to offer a wide array of practice tests that will help you prepare for your big exam.

Best for In-Person Learning

The Series 65 license is essential for anyone hoping to become an investment advisor. But much like the similar Series 7 license, its exam can be pretty tough for newcomers. That’s why it’s highly recommended that you try one of the best Series 65 study guides before taking it if you want to pass on your first try. Memorizing questions is not the way to succeed on securities exams. Actual questions are never released by the exam provider, so the questions you practice will not be exactly the same as the ones you see on the exam. That’s why completion of so many questions is critical to the prep process.
He adds that the most challenging aspect was investment advisory law. “I knew what was right and what was wrong, but to identify the specific law every time was a challenge,” he says. Tony Liddle, CEO of Prosper Wealth Management in Madison, Wisconsin, also wanted to change careers within financial services. He was a corporate financial analyst before becoming a financial advisor for individuals and families. Once he decided to make the shift, he focused on passing the Series 65 exam quickly.
This ensures you’re constantly going over new lessons to reinforce them in your mind, which will have a positive affect on your exam performance and working knowledge. How long before you are ready to test depends on whether you are working full time or have more available time to spend on your study process. Most people must devote at least 50–100 hours to the study process.
They have a wide range of materials to learn from and even offer organization discounts. Plus, their live courses are an effective way of learning essential concepts for the Series 65 exam. Kaplan’s study courses also come with a well developed video library. Each topic has a series of short, exam focused videos that reinforce what you’ve learned throughout the course.
Unlike other courses, Knopman includes a textbook with their course. This is an excellent asset if you like studying in a more traditional manner while working through the video lectures. Essentially, this is ideal for anyone who wants to emulate a classroom experience. In order to make the most of their adaptive learning technology, Achievable uses spaced review based on your personal experience with their platform.
If you’re looking for the best combination of well-made study materials and time-saving test prep resources, look no further. Securities Institute of America has what you need at an extremely affordable price— but they’ve also got that sweet guarantee to ensure you’re actually getting your full money’s worth. Your score on practice exams is the best indicator, which is why the materials you choose are so important for your success. Knopman Marks recommends that you aim for an average score on Qbank exams of at least 75-80% on practice exams including all topics. But, don’t stress over every detail as you read, and don’t spend more than about 1/3 of your overall study time on getting through it.
“Candidates need to prioritize more than 100 hours of quality, consistent study time and follow a clear process so they know they are ready to test.” Entrusted by over 1 millions candidate every year, we provide top-notch practice questions to you completely for free. Lowenstein said these are all developments advisors should at least have a passing familiarity with. That’s especially true if they’re going to be in the business of recommending investing strategies and managing stock and bond portfolios. He said he also expects the new Series 65 exam to have questions pertaining to cryptocurrency and other types of digital assets.
Each of the twelve practice exams is followed by the answer key and then the answers are explained in-depth. The practice exams also follow the same topic proportion as specified by the outline form. We like the fact that there are no trick questions, but questions that will help understand the information at a deeper level. You’ll also learn how to eliminate incorrect choices – a skill extremely helpful on the day of the exam.
You’ll only have access to four Series 65 live online training sessions a month, with the rest of your curriculum being practice exams and similar materials. These sessions are very effective, but it’s a bit disappointing that you don’t get more of them. The question bank, textbook, practice exams, and class sessions can all be purchased individually if you’d like to build your own custom study program. There are also two self-study bundles, but unless money is a big concern, we recommend upgrading to the Premium OnDemand Online Class. This adds a set of pre-recorded video lessons and instructor support if you run into questions.
The Knopman Marks recommendation is that reading the text is a critical, absolutely essential part of the preparatory process. An easy-to-understand fifteen chapter print self-study manual based upon the FINRA Series 65 content outline. In addition, a PDF version of the study manual is also included and can be downloaded through our online learning portal.
In order to pass this exam, you must get 94 out of 130 items correct, which is about 72%. If you fail the exam, your score report will provide information on how you did on the exam overall, as well as an analysis of how you did on each section. Your identification must include your name, signature, and photo. Examples of acceptable forms of ID include a government-issued driver’s license, passport, or military identification card.

For a more up to date version, the ‘Wiley FINRA Series 65 Exam Review 2017’ is a great choice. This guide also comes with real-life examples that allow students to apply the theory into practice. On the downside, you’ll notice that the structure of the guide is not that well-designed and the content comes with lots of errors that are misleading in some cases. Still, in spite of these problems, the Wiley FINRA Series 65 Exam Review 2017 is one of the most recommended resources for the Series 65 exam.
There are certain requirements you must meet in order to be eligible for the guarantee, however, so make sure you are aware of these before signing up. There are three courses to choose from, which cost $159.95 for self-study, $229.95 for video study, or $294.95 for live online. All three course options include instructional support if you have questions, as well as readiness and guarantee exams. You’ll also have access to an extensive question bank and online exam simulations, though you’ll only get 90 days of course access. The best Series 65 exam prep courses offer a variety of learning methods, ranging from entirely self-paced to those with online videos, live virtual classes, and even in-person options, all at an affordable price.