Securities exams (FINRA) are an option for financial planners who wish to sell this service to their clients.  Many clients request this service, and it puts you in a better position if you’re licensed in securities because you will be able to give your clients all they need for their financial needs without them having to see another service provider.

It’s not easy to gain a license to sell securities.  You’ll need a sponsorship from a broker-dealer and some time to study and prep before even sitting for your licensing exams.  After that, you also need to maintain your education so that you can make the right decisions.  However, if you’re passionate about obtaining this license and love to learn, then with this good understanding and tips, you’ll enjoy the benefits a securities license will provide you.

How to Get Your Securities License

To start, you’ll need to decide on a platform.  You’ll need to find a broker-dealer that will sponsor you.  It’s a time consuming process as there are many great companies like Passperfect.  You should pick based on level of payout on gross commission and products/services offered.  These can be divided into retail and independent firm categories in which the former includes brokers that work at retail firms while the latter includes people who work in other lines of business like taxes and estate planning.

After you’ve made that decision, you’ll need to decide which licenses you need.  Many big retail brokerage firms require Series 7 and 66 licenses or even the Series 31.  Whereas those independent broker-dealers might take the Series 6 so he or she could sell mutual funds and investment products.

Then, get into the studying!  This is the most extensive part of process.  It doesn’t take long, but it’s intense if you don’t know where to start.  The nice thing is that most retail brokerage firms will give you access to a training program in-house.  It pays you a salary that looks like your previous income while you study.  However, independent firms typically won’t provide you this support.  Instead, they may have an agreement with a sort of training provider to help cover the cost of your study materials.

Here are three big tips to help you get an A on your securities licensing exams!

1. Give Yourself Time

Give yourself a good amount of time to study for the exams.  It takes about 300 hours to study for every level.  That means, you should spend a lot of time with textbooks and practice questions, as well as live practice exams to get used to the pressure.

2. Get Conceptual

The best advice I could give you for taking any standardized exam, is to get the concepts not the questions.  Many people make the mistake of spending so much time on practice problems that when they get the real thing and don’t see problems that look like the ones they practiced, they panic.  Avoid this by understanding concepts so you can answer any question!

3. Get in the Zone

Yes, it’s going to be a long mental sprint to the finish line on exam day.  So, be sure to be prepared for a 6 hour long exam with 260 questions.  It doesn’t matter how much you know if you don’t have the mental stamina to get through the exam.  So, take some time to really practice these long exams for the whole length of time or at least close to it.

Hopefully you’ve found these tips useful and feel ready to dive right in and earn your securities license.  You’ll benefit immensely from passing your exams.  Take the time to do it right and follow these steps to find success!

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January 29, 2018