So my boss finally pulled the trigger, and I find myself (again) studying for my Series 7 and 63. I passed them ten years ago, but haven’t been in the industry since 2008, so my licenses are expired.
The first time I passed them was in 2005. I was fresh out of the Marine Corps, and knew nothing about nothing. I passed the 7 after about a month of study, and passed the 66 after about two weeks.
Since then, I’ve finished my MBA, CPA, and CFA. So I don’t expect a lot of difficulty mastering the material. It just sucks that I have to take them again.
Any advice? Any “hard” parts that I need to pay extra attention to?
And @Chad - why isn’t there a section of AF devoted to the Series 7?
Just subscribe to a service that has digital practice tests/question banks. Just take a bunch of practice tests for a couple weeks leading up to the test.
I remember there were quite a few options questions when I took the exam a few years ago. I remember it being relatively straightforward if you studied.
I found the 66 harder than the 7. Damn Blue Sky laws…
Either way, neither should take longer than a couple weeks. If you’re looking for study guides, try googling some torrents. If you’re into that sort of thing.
And by virtue of being a CFA Charterholder, I’m exempt from the 65, so I get to take the 63 now. I’ve heard it’s much easier.
If all I wanted to do was sell the fee-based stuff, I wouldn’t even have to take the test. I could start today under my company’s RIA model. But somebody told me that taking the 7/63 was a good idea, because every once in a while, you’ll want to sell a Variable annuity or variable life or something.
i took the 7/63 as a Canadian with limited knowledge of U.S. securities laws and it was a breeze. don’t really even bother studying for the 7 as a practising U.S. broker and CFA. the 63 was a little tougher for me b/c of the complete lack of knowledge and familiarity but was easy come test time after a bit of studying. the questions are mind-numbingly easy. i used the Kaplan Q-Bank for most of the studying but referred to the Kaplan text when i needed more clarity on some of the Series 63 material.
I’ve said this before here and it’s a total brag, sorry, but I actually fell asleep during the test and still passed. So… not hard. I did study a few weeks though, I wasn’t “allowed” to register for exam until I got 90%+ on all practice exams (I say “allowed” because looking back we were all 1099 so who gives a f what the receptionist/HR/admin in charge of new “hires” say)
I hope I can say the same thing on sat though, and my strategy will be completely the opposite (plan to stay awake, that is)
I took 66 too, I can’t remember but I think it was shorter/harder but I stayed awake during that too
