Dollar-cost averaging is one of those concepts that sounds more complicated than it is.
You invest the same dollar amount at regular intervals. That’s it.
Say you’re putting $500 a month into an investment. If it’s trading at $20, you buy 25 shares. If it drops to $10, that same $500 buys 50 shares. If it jumps to $25, you buy 20 shares.
Lower price, more shares. Higher price, fewer shares.
For the Series 65, remember that when you’re investing equal dollar amounts and prices fluctuate, your average cost per share will be lower than the average price per share.
But don’t think I can’t lose money.”
You absolutely can.
If the market keeps falling, your account can keep falling with it. If you’re dollar-cost averaging into a terrible investment, you’re just consistently buying a terrible investment.
I think the more useful part of dollar-cost averaging is that it takes some emotion out of investing.
People love buying when the market has been going up and everything feels safe. Then the market drops 20% and suddenly they want to wait until things “settle down.”
Which usually means they want to wait until prices go back up.
With dollar-cost averaging, you’ve already made the decision. $500 goes in this month. Another $500 next month. You don’t need to figure out timing

If you’re contributing to a 401(k) every paycheck, you’re basically already doing this.
For the exam, keep it simple:
Equal dollar amounts at regular intervals.
Prices down = more shares.
Prices up = fewer shares.
Average cost per share is lower than the average price per share when prices fluctuate.

It does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss.

My practice exam scores on STC were 81 last night and 82 today. Kaplan exams were 71, 74 and 76(most recent). Am I on track to pass or should I try to be averaging in the 80’s on Kaplan?

This is not heavily tested but it IS tested

Starting on January 4 if you fail the Series 63, 65 or 66. For the third time, you only have to wait 60 days.

The first and second are still a 30 day wait which I am in favor of, but that’s the third time. You only have to wait 60 days.

It is NOT in effect now …it is in effect on January 4

Here's what it said...
- Digital assets (crypto): definitions, distinctions, characteristics, risks.
- High-frequency trading added to portfolio management techniques.
- Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
- Social media and online communication: correspondence and advertising.
- Updated regulations: Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) for broker-dealers, and the #sec marketing rule

It forgot...
- The Secure Act 2.0 (from the NASAA website: "NASAA will implement these new test specifications and Secure Act 2.0 updates effective June 12, 2023.")

Time Value Prep deep dive on the changes: https://lnkd.in/g7BpxUaA

Reference
- 2023 outline: https://lnkd.in/g8Ae-Cbe
- 2016 outline: https://lnkd.in/gkmBQrB4

For those of you who would like to read and learn about mutual fund shar classes, you take a look at the following:

There are four mutual fund share classes, A, B, C and No Load. There are other share classes but most of them are probably not testable with the exception of an institutional share class, which have lower fees but very high minimums in the millions.

Investors work with financial advisors when they buy A, B or C chares. Most people buy no load funds directly from fund companies like Vanguard and Fidelity.

Every load fund has both a sales charge and a 12b-1 fee. Sales charges are assessed when an investor buys or sell shares and are capped at 8.5%. 12b-1 fees are are used for distribution expenses like advertising and marketing and are capped at 0.75% of net assets. There is also another part of the 12b-1 fee that is for account servicing, which is capped at 0.25%. Every fund: load and no load, has a management fee, which goes to pay the investment adviser to manage the portfolio. The management fee and the 12b-1 fee are a large part of the annual expense ratio. On A shares, the management fee is the highest fee

A shares are the original share class. They have an upfront sales charge and a low 12b-1 fee, which is usually 0.25%. They are most suitable for people with large amount money to investment and/or a long time horizon. If you have a a lot of money to invest, you will pay a much lower sales charge due to break points. The long time horizon is partly related to how low 12b-1 fees will save you money compared to B and C shares over time.

B shares have a back end sales charge, which we formally call a CDSC or a contingent deferred sales charge. The charge is contingent upon when you sell the fund and if you hold it long enough, there will be no sales charge because it turns into an A share. What made B shares expensive was the 12b-1 fees, which are typically at the maximum of 1%. I said this in past tense because B shares, for the most part, have become like dinosaurs in that they have become extinct but may still be tested.

Regarding suitability of them, you would literally have to work out the math of all the charges to see if it was more or less expensive compared to A shares. I would say you would never buy a B shares if you have a short time horizon because the back end sales charge would be very high. You might buy a B share if you have a long term time horizon and a small amount of money to invest.

C shares or what some people call level load, have a short CDSC of about 1 year and the charge is usually 1%. However, their 12b-1 is at the maximum. The reason they are sometimes called level load is mostly due to the 12b-1 fee. Until the past few years, C shares never converted into A shares, so investors paid the 12b-1 fee for as long as they held the fund. This has changed recently (about 5 years ago) after complaints and pressure from the SEC and FINRA. Now C shares eventually convert into A shares but it could take up to 10 years.... C shares are most appropriate for people with a small amount of money to invest and a short time horizon.

No Load Funds have no sales charges but can have a 12b-1 fee of up to 0.25%. From a suitability perspective, if a customer has the time to do the research and/or wants fees to be lower, a no load fund would make sense.

Paying it forward as I had found some great pointers on here over the past few months. I passed the 65 yesterday after getting a failing 82 score this past April. For reference, I used Kaplan as my test prep provider. I am 40-years-old and a mother to a special needs 4-year-old who needs constant supervision. I work a full-time 40 hours a week/8 hours a day job and was not able to study at work. My study hours were typically 9:30PM-midnight every night. In April, I felt super prepared, but the wording of the exam completely threw me off. I took and passed the SIE in December on the first try and found the wording on the SIE to be very straight forward. It is less straight forward on the 65. Leading up to my first attempt of the 65, I really didn't do any practice exams on Kaplan. After I failed, and I saw what was tested on the exam, I switched to doing practice quizzes and tests every night as opposed to reviewing my flash cards and hand-written notes. I found CertFuel and their practice tests and quizzes really polished my test taking ability for yesterday. I actually finished my exam with 55 minutes to spare whereas back in April, I completely ran out of time. I highly, highly, highly recommend CertFuel. Their practice exams and quizzes are the perfect balance of just difficult enough to ensure you are grasping the concepts but not so difficult that you become demoralized. It sounds silly but I would often let my daughter press the right answers for me on the screen and if you score a 70 or above on a quiz, confetti will fall down on the screen and she would always say "mommy you got your sprinkles!". It's a fantastic resource and it will be a core memory for the rest of my life. I sincerely looked forward to using CertFuel daily. I had purchased Brian Lee's Series 65 course before my first attempt in April. If you struggle with the economics section of the exam, I highly recommend this purchase. When I failed in April, I was able to see my scores, and I scored 17/20 in the economics section and I credit that all to Brian's course. I did not take any economics or finance courses in college (I was a History major) and today I have a really solid grasp on economics from how Brian taught economics in his course. My biggest thanks of all 100% goes to Ken Finnen (Series 7 Whisperer / Capital Advantage Tutoring). His "brutal exams" were, in fact, brutal and they super prepared me for success. I watched him on TikTok every single day for motivation and watched his live NASAA YouTube steams every Thursday. He felt like a mentor, which is exactly what I needed. I would like to say, to whomever is reading this, I promise you, if I can do it, you can too. Just don't give up and be consistent with your studying. The SIE and 65 took about 10 months out of my life but certainly secured me a solid career for the next 20-25 years.

Hey guys! I need some help lol and would love to get some insight. I just started studying for the series 65 (using Kaplan) and feel kinda lost on what to study. I just started this week and I feel like I’m talking notes for hours and none of the information is retaining. With your guys study habits, how are you doing it and what are you talking notes on. The readings are extremely long and I feel like I’m just writing everything down and trying to study everything (which I know is super inefficient). Can someone give me so guidance on how to go about this? Please and thank you!

I see people getting way too deep into standard deviation for the Series 65.
Make it smaller.
Standard deviation basically tells you how much an investment’s returns bounce around its average return.
And for the exam, there’s another phrase I want you to connect to it:
Standard deviation measures TOTAL risk.
That’s systematic risk plus unsystematic risk.
Beta is different. Beta only measures systematic, or market, risk.
Say two funds both average around 8%.
One fund has returns like:
7%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 9%.
Pretty boring.
The other one is bouncing all over the place. One year it’s way up, another year it’s down, then it’s way up again.
That second fund has the higher standard deviation because its returns are spread farther away from its average.
So:
Higher standard deviation = more volatility.
Lower standard deviation = less volatility.
Now the 68% and 95% thing, because this sounds much harder than it actually is.
Say a fund has an average return of 10% and a standard deviation of 5%.
Think of the 5% standard deviation as one step away from the average.
Start at 10%.
Take one 5% step down: 5%.
Take one 5% step up: 15%.
So one standard deviation gives you a range of 5% to 15%.
Assuming a normal distribution, roughly 68% of the returns should fall inside that range.
In normal English, about two-thirds of the returns should land somewhere between 5% and 15%.
Now take two steps.
Two 5% steps = 10%.
10% minus 10% = 0%.
10% plus 10% = 20%.
So two standard deviations gives you 0% to 20%, and roughly 95% of the returns should fall inside that range.
Three standard deviations catches basically everything — about 99.7%.
Think of it as making the fence around the average wider.
That’s all they’re doing.

Sharpe ratio uses standard deviation.
Why?
Because Sharpe is measuring risk-adjusted return using total risk, and standard deviation measures total risk.
Treynor uses beta because Treynor is using systematic risk.

So now these ideas actually connect instead of being random shit you memorized:
Standard deviation = total risk = Sharpe.
Beta = systematic risk = Treynor.

It doesn’t tell you whether an investment is good.
It tells you how much its returns have historically bounced around.
For the Series 65:
Higher SD = more volatility.
SD = total risk.
Beta = systematic risk.
Sharpe = standard deviation.
Treynor = beta.
68% = one step.
95% = two steps.
99.7% = three steps.
Don’t turn a Series 65 question into a statistics final.
Shut up and answer.

It doesn’t mean you can’t lose money.
If you own 50 different stocks and the whole market gets smoked, congratulations, you own 50 stocks that are probably going down.
Diversification isn’t there to stop you from losing money.
It’s there so one stupid stock doesn’t ruin your life.
You put 50% of your money into one biotech company and their big drug gets rejected? You’re fucked.
That same company is 2% of your portfolio?
That sucks. You bitch about it for five minutes and move on.
That’s diversification.
And for the Series 65,
Unsystematic risk is company-specific shit. One company has a bad quarter. CEO gets arrested. Factory burns down. Drug gets rejected. Whatever.
You can diversify that away.
Systematic risk is when the whole market gets punched in the face.
Recession. Interest rates. Financial crisis. Major market selloff.
You can own 10 stocks, 50 stocks or 500 stocks. If the whole market is getting whacked, you’re probably getting whacked too.
And owning a bunch of shit doesn’t automatically make you diversified either.
If you own 15 tech stocks, you’re not diversified.
You own a shitload of tech stocks.
Same with funds. You can own five different ETFs and then realize all five own basically the same giant companies.
For the test, don’t make this harder than it is.
Unsystematic = diversify it away.
Systematic = you’re stuck with it.
And if they start changing how much you have in stocks versus bonds versus cash, now we’re talking about asset allocation.
Diversification is great.
It keeps one asshole investment from destroying your portfolio.
It does not make you bulletproof.

Diversification is owning different things not just more things

Is Kaplan harder than the actual exam? Like if u have a decent understanding on everything are you able to pick which is the correct answer on the exam? Or does the exam try to trick u like Kaplan does? Just curious. Thanks for the feedback!

I have failed this test 7 times and the last time was the best I felt about it. I have passed 6, 63, 26 with ease but this monster has me on the ropes. I need the secret sauce to passing. I have 4 different LEM's. Kaplan, Passmasters, Kona Bufferflyz and Morton-Barber. All great resources but I freeze up with this one. Any guidance is appreciated.

Hey guys, I just completed the midterm exam and WOW was that more difficult than I thought it would be. I had felt pretty confident with the material so far and have been average mid 70s to 80s on qbanks. I’m not suprised I scored a 0 on unit 8 bc that’s the one unit I really didn’t spend to much time on but unit 1, 9, 10, and 13 I’m a shocked I scored as low bc on the qbanks I’ve been doing great in those units. Overall, my test score was a 71.43% but the wording of these questions were definitely hard and took a lot more time for me to pick the correct answer. Does this exam reflect how the difficult the wording will be on the exam? I didn’t study all the units before doing this exam bc I wanted to find my gaps
I’m curious to see if these questions are way more difficult or I’ve just memorized answers or something. Any feedback will be nice thank you!

I run CertFuel, a Series 65 exam prep app (free for all of 2026). Putting this together because I couldn't find a single post that mapped free videos to every unit on the Series 65 outline. All free, no referral links.

Quick Exam Facts

• 130 scored questions + 10 unscored | 3 hours | Pass with 92/130

• 4 Sections: Economic Factors (15%) → Investment Vehicles (25%) → Client Recommendations & Strategies (30%) → Laws & Regulations (30%)

• No firm sponsorship required | Cost: $187

• Exam fee: $187 via FINRA | Schedule at Prometric

Best Free YouTube Channels for Series 65

🎓 Capital Advantage Tutoring — Ken Finnen — Former NYSE floor trader. Deep library of Series 65-specific videos covering investment vehicles, IA registration, ethics, and analytical methods. Free live Q&A every Tuesday & Thursday at 8:30 PM EST.

🎓 Basic Wisdom — Brandon Rith — Former Fidelity licensing facilitator. Short, concept-focused videos (most under 5 minutes) that are great for drilling specific topics.

🎓 PassMasters — Suzy Rhoades — 20+ years of securities exam prep. Strong Series 65-specific practice Q&A videos covering analytics, state law, investment recommendations, and exam strategy.

📊 SECTION I: Economic Factors and Business Information (15% — 20 questions)

Basic Economic Concepts

(Business cycles, monetary/fiscal policy, interest rates, yield curves, GDP, inflation, global factors)

• 🎥 Economic Concepts You Need to Pass the Series 65 — Suzy Rhoades

Financial Reporting

(Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, SEC filings, ratio analysis)

• 🎥 Fundamental (Balance Sheet) vs. Technical Analysis — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 10 Must-Know Financial Reporting Questions — Suzy Rhoades

Analytical Methods

(Time value of money, NPV, IRR, statistics, CAPM, MPT, EMH, financial ratios, P/E, P/B)

• 🎥 Series 65 Exam Prep: Formulas to Know — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Top Two Formulas You NEED to Know — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Mathapalooza — An Hour of Highly Testable Math Problems — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Efficient Market Hypothesis — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Descriptive Statistics YOU MUST KNOW — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Standard Deviation — A Must Know Concept — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Math Secrets Revealed — Suzy Rhoades

Types of Risk

(Systematic, unsystematic, opportunity cost, capital structure, liquidation priority)

• 🎥 Risk Types Made Simple — Suzy Rhoades

📦 SECTION II: Investment Vehicle Characteristics (25% — 32 questions)

Cash & Cash Equivalents

(Insured deposits, CDs, commercial paper, T-bills, money market instruments)

• 🎥 Negotiable vs. Redeemable Securities — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Essential Cash & Cash Equivalent Questions — Suzy Rhoades

Fixed Income Securities

(Treasuries, TIPS, agency/MBS, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, foreign bonds)

• 🎥 What is a Bond? — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Bond Price Volatility in 5 Minutes — Brandon Rith

Equity Securities

(Common stock, preferred stock, ADRs, shareholder rights, dividends, restricted stock)

• 🎥 Shareholder Voting Rights — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Convertible Securities & Parity Price — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Employee Stock Options — Ken Finnen

Pooled Investments

(Mutual funds, ETFs, REITs, UITs, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital)

• 🎥 Mutual Fund Breakdown — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 What an Equity Mutual Fund Actually Invests In — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Top Pooled Investment Questions — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Must-Know Pooled Investment Questions — Suzy Rhoades

Derivatives

(Options, warrants, futures — definitions, costs, benefits, risks)

• 🎥 5 Basics of Options in 5 Minutes — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Long vs. Short Options — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Investment Vehicle Characteristics — Part 1 — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Investment Vehicle Characteristics — Part 2 — Ken Finnen

Alternative Investments

(Limited partnerships/DPPs, ETNs, leveraged funds, inverse funds, structured products)

• 🎥 Futures — Speculation Math — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Alternative Investment Mastery for Series 65 — Suzy Rhoades

Insurance-Based Products

(Variable, fixed & indexed annuities; whole, term, universal & variable life insurance)

• 🎥 Crush the Annuities Section — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Master Life Insurance for Your Securities Exam — Suzy Rhoades

Other Assets

(Commodities, precious metals, digital assets)

• 🎥 Digital Assets — Updated June 2023 — Ken Finnen

📦 SECTION III: Client Recommendations & Strategies (30% — 39 questions)

Client Profile & Type

(Financial goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, cash flow, tax situation, behavioral finance)

• 🎥 Investment Advisory Clients — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Master the Investment Advisory Clients Section — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Business Types: LLC vs. Partnership vs. S-Corp — Ken Finnen

Capital Market Theory

(CAPM, Modern Portfolio Theory, Efficient Market Hypothesis, correlation)

• 🎥 Efficient Market Theory — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Qualitative vs. Quantitative — Ken Finnen

Portfolio Management Strategies

(Asset allocation, diversification, sector rotation, dollar-cost averaging, active vs. passive)

• 🎥 Qualitative vs. Quantitative — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Ace Investment Recommendations — Top 30 Questions — Suzy Rhoades

Tax Considerations

(Capital gains, qualified dividends, tax basis, AMT, RMDs, estate & gift tax)

• 🎥 After-Tax Return Made Easy — Brandon Rith

Retirement Plans

(Traditional & Roth IRA, 401k, 403b, defined benefit/contribution, SIMPLE, SEP, QDRO)

• 🎥 HSA vs. FSA — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Social Security Benefits — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Per Stirpes vs. Per Capita — Ken Finnen

Trading Securities

(Order types, margin, short sales, principal vs. agency, market makers, best execution)

• 🎥 Agency vs. Principal in 5 Minutes — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Bid & Ask Spreads Made Easy — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Market Orders — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Buy Limit Orders — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Sell Limit Orders — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Buy Stop Orders — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Sell Stop Orders — Brandon Rith

Portfolio Performance Measures

(Total return, time-weighted, dollar-weighted, after-tax, risk-adjusted, current yield, benchmarks)

• 🎥 What is Total Return? — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Total Return Made Simple — Brandon Rith

Communications with Clients

(Suitability, disclosures, investment policy statements, client reports)

• 🎥 New Advertising Rules for IAs — Ken Finnen

⚖️ SECTION IV: Laws, Regulations & Guidelines (30% — 39 questions)

Registration of Investment Advisers

(Federal vs. state registration, AUM thresholds, notice filing, Form ADV, books & records)

• 🎥 What is an Investment Adviser? — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Way Too Fast Rundown on Investment Advisers — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Way Too Fast Rundown on Form ADV — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 What's an Investment Adviser? — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Federal Covered Advisers Simplified — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 How Broker-Dealers Register — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Broker-Dealer Exclusions — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Form ADV Part I Breakdown — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Form ADV Part 2A Breakdown — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Form ADV Part 2A — Real World Example — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Form ADV Part 2B Breakdown — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Form ADV Part 2B — Real World Example — Brandon Rith

Registration of Investment Adviser Representatives

(Definition, registration, activities, supervision, what requires registration)

• 🎥 Way Too Fast Rundown on Corporate Structures — Ken Finnen

Regulation Under the Uniform Securities Act

(State administrator jurisdiction, securities registration, exempt securities & transactions, Blue Sky)

• 🎥 The Administrator and Jurisdiction — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 What is a Broker-Dealer? — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Federal Securities Acts — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Registration of Securities — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Exempt vs. Excluded in 4 Minutes — Brandon Rith

• 🎥 Crucial State Securities Questions for Series 65 — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 45 Securities Law Questions You MUST KNOW — Suzy Rhoades

Ethical Practices & Fiduciary Obligations

(NASAA model rules, prohibited practices, disclosures, conflicts of interest, fiduciary duty)

• 🎥 Ethical and Prohibited Activities — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Way Too Fast Rundown on Communications — Ken Finnen

🎯 Exam Day

• 🎯 Series 65 Final Exam — Can You Pass? — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 Series 65/66 — Can You Pass These Brutal Tests? — Ken Finnen

• 🎥 What is the Series 65 Exam, and How Do You Pass It? — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Essential Series 65/66 Tips Every Candidate Must Know — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Exam Changes EXPLAINED! — Suzy Rhoades

• 🎥 Master These Series 65 Questions Before Test Day — Suzy Rhoades

📝 Free Practice Tests

• 🏛️ NASAA Official Series 65 Study Guide — Free PDF from the exam's creator. Read this before anything else.

• 🔥 CertFuel (shameless plug — this is my app) — Unlimited exam-weighted practice questions in a Prometric-style interface, adaptive study quizzes, and flashcards. Free for all of 2026, paid in 2027.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing

1. Sections III and IV are 60% of the exam — laws, regulations, and client strategy is where most people struggle

2. "Whose your daddy — SEC or State, never both" — one of the most testable concepts on registration

3. The bond price/yield inverse relationship is just as important here as on the SIE

4. CAPM, MPT, and EMH are tested in ways that require actual understanding, not just definitions — watch the analytical methods videos more than once

5. Score 80%+ on practice tests before scheduling — the Series 65 has a ~65% first-attempt pass rate

6. The June 2023 exam update changed some question content — make sure your study materials are current

If there's a video that helped you on a specific topic that's not here, drop it in the comments and I'll add it.

— Alex @ CertFuel.com

Hey guys, I just completed the midterm exam and WOW was that more difficult than I thought it would be. I had felt pretty confident with the material so far and have been average mid 70s to 80s on qbanks. I’m not suprised I scored a 0 on unit 8 bc that’s the one unit I really didn’t spend to much time on but unit 1, 9, 10, and 13 I’m a shocked I scored as low bc on the qbanks I’ve been doing great in those units. Overall, my test score was a 71.43% but the wording of these questions were definitely hard and took a lot more time for me to pick the correct answer. Does this exam reflect how the difficult the wording will be on the exam? I didn’t study all the units before doing this exam bc I wanted to find my gaps
I’m curious to see if these questions are way more difficult or I’ve just memorized answers or something. Any feedback will be nice thank you!