What is required if one wants to start ones own advisory service/investment firm - Series 7 or something else? Thank you.
Im hoping you guys are right about the S7 being easy. Im sponsored by Ameriprise Fin, been reading the STC study guides since Nov. '10; then read them again in May for munis and options and some regs cuz was failing all the sample exams. Then bought a S7 for dummies type of guide, hated it, and bought Empire Stock Brokers' guide. Its good. But doing the samples all Aug and Sept...failing again! Granted, Im in my early 40s now and dont have the memory I used to. But I am a reporter for the WSJ! And I cant pass the samples. My test is next week. There is no way I will pass this first time out. You all make it sound so easy. If it is easier than the sample exams, then I will pass it. Im getting high 60s on all the 125 and 250 q practice tests. Avg study time is 3 hours a day, 3 to 4 days a week. Good grief...
The quarter I took S7 pass rate was 66%. There are no complicated math questions, its a general knowledge test; though it is 6 hours. Pass rate % is at the bottom of your test result.
I got mid 70s/low 80s on practice tests, then when I took it I was just short of 90%. The thing that caught me off guard was all the customer handling rules/questions. Everything else was easy. Focus on munis, options, customer handling, and you'll be fine. I studied in pieces over about a month and a half. I used the Dummies book, the STC book, and "Pass the 7". You should read dummies first and do the dummies tests. Then STC, do at least half of their tests, make sure you get 70+ on them. Everything you get wrong on dummies/STC, use "pass the 7" to get the specific answers.
Well, maybe ifIm luck and Im getting high 60s on the samples, I will eek out a low 70 on the S7. I should pass the S66; Ive heard it is basically a smaller version of the S7. Not too confident at this point. Never said I was a genius, but didnt think I was a moron. Maybe I am. Go figure...I DO write for Murdoch, so...:eek:
Just for fun you guys... I always tell new people, about the Series 7, "How hard can it really be? Every stockbroker has passed it" with a smile of course..... but, come on, it's just a test.. takes mabye 60 hours or so of studying. Hint, be sure you understand options cold... study extra hard on the #$%@#$ bonds, new issues, and all that "stuff." We have people taking the test every month, some use the Dummies, some like Pass Perfect... whatever works for you.. as Nike says "Just Do It" FWIW, Don
We have people taking the test every month, some use the Dummies, some like Pass Perfect... whatever works for you.. as Nike says "Just Do It" I am just doing it, but just doing it aint doin it. I know options cold. I trade options. I dont do straddles and spreads, so I could make a mistake on those once in a while, but I know them enough. We'll see how it goes. Im tired of worrying about it. If I fail it, I can take it again in Nov. IfI fail in Nov., I have to wait a year, which I wont do. Then its back to journalism. Or maybe FedEx or UPS. I figure when the USPS gets closed then the other guys will be hiring like crazy...Im sure the pay isnt much less than journalism, that is for damn sure.
I took it ages ago. failed the first time, and got a 70 the other time.. I suck at multiple choice test, but what I did was focus on the breakdowns of questions asked. Back then, Muni Bonds and options were huge, so the 2nd time around I knew these cold. I dont know what the study materials look like now, but I am sure they still have breakdowns.. Just focus on the heavily weighted stuff, and dont try to drag out studying... If you cover too much material over too many months, you forget the early stuff. You should hit it intensely, over 4 weeks, and make sure you can committ to that. just my .02
Focus on the stuff that carries the most weight in the test... Munis, Options, Underwritting, Customer Accounts... if you have a CD with practice tests, make sure to limit its use to only testing once you feel you know enough to pass; otherwise you run the risk of learning the questions on the CD... and from then on it is 100% useless...
I did it the other way. I took the practice tests (there are like 20,000 questions so you won't remember most of them). Studied what I got wrong. Retook the practiced tests and got over 70 on most of them. Took the actual exam and got 90+ (took a lot of flak because you are supposed to only get a 71). Two words of advice: 1. Always side against the broker/dealer in any ethics question. 2. Logic doesn't always prevail. Their idiotic rules do.