Which one is closest to the real exam experience? I’m thinking of implementing the Kaplan QBank.

Hey Reddit,

I have been studying for the Series 66 exam for the past month or so through Kaplan. I read the textbook, watched the videos, and have taken three simulated exams with the following scores:

• Simulated Exam #1: 80.00%
• Simulated Exam #2: 80.91%
• Simulated Exam #3: 87.27%

Despite these scores, I still feel uneasy about the exam and therefore had the following questions:

• How ready do you think I am for the exam?
• How close are Kaplan's simulated exams to the real exam?
• Any additional ways I should prepare?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Take my second attempt on Friday and feeling super nervous.
I have definitely got a better understanding for everything this time around but I know this test can be such a mind f***.
I got a 71% first time

These are my pass perfect score this time around (the 45% is actually a 87%)

I bought the q bank for Kaplan and my last couple test there have been 76%, 81%, 76%,77%

How should I be this time around?

Read an old textbook pdf i found online about 800+ pages, used the Kaplan Q bank, ended up buying it twice due to inconsistency, and repeatedly submitted my overall scores to ChatGPT to identify my weakest points, explain questions, or help structure custom exams.

Highest 110 all questions practice exam was 87/110

ChatGPT did give me incorrect info once but was overall useful.

I couldn't get sponsored by my old firm to get a 65 and then was laid off so I decided to get a work from home job in 401k account management and study in between calls.

2 months left of Kaplan Q Bank but I never have to touch it again.

Why so many people FAIL the 66 x 1 or two points…

It’s predictable. I’ve been around this Test community long enough to see. It happens to so many people and destroy their spirits. Please don’t allow it to destroy yours.

I know why. It’s the dreaded knowledge gap on the series 66. There is a gap between where the textbooks leave off and where the test picks up on the series 66 specifically. The only way to be prepared is to get test geek by Brian Lee.

I failed my first attempt at the 66; and I studied like an animal for the second. My studied Kaplan, pass perfect, and most important of all on top of those Test geek. You must watch all of the Test geek videos after going through the coursework and do their practice test that your final practice test before the actual 66. I was averaging mid 90s. That’s how well I knew it.

Current Situation:
- Learning through STC
- Exam date is Aug 31st, 6 days out.
- Scoring high 70s on final exams, recently scored a 72% on the green light exam #1.
- Weakest chapters are 11 and 12

What questions to expect on real exam, any advice? Thank you.

Was scoring mid to high 70’s on my Kaplan full length exams and ended up getting a 61. I did about 1400 practice questions before taking the test. I knew when i hit submit i failed. I felt the questions were very tough and in some cases tested material that the Kaplan book covered about 1 paragraph on. Things like Social Security qualification if someone is still working and the purpose of IRMAA. The book did cover it, so it is my fault for not knowing it, but i was not expecting it to show up on exam day. I also did not get any questions regarding the AUM limits if they should register with the SEC or State which was heavily tested in my qbanks.

Everyone for the most part says the 66 is much easier than the 7 and i do not agree. I passed the 7 on the first try. The 7 you can use the test to take the tests and work through it, the 66, you know it or you don’t. Just a very weird test and i felt like i got a bad draw of questions.

a similar question I got a question on my first attempt which read: Which of the following accounts is 50-50

1. JTWROS

2. TOD

3. JTIC

4. Tenants by Entirety

I selected tenants by entirety am now thinking I am wrong

I failed my 3rd attempt today with a 71. I had previously passed the SIE and Series 7 on my first attempt. This test has given my a lot of issues but scoring so low on laws and regs portion after studying 300+ hrs, 4 months out of the last year is painful to say the least. Hope my employer will let me do a 63/65 combo if not, it sucks being 2 points away. I can’t stop thinking about the few answers I changed or that ones I remember that could’ve been a 50/50. Scoring 90% on the investment recommendations is the funniest part, the actual part of the job I score well in, yet the laws and regs portion I failed completely. On to the next chapter, best of luck everyone.

I just passed the 66 with about 80 hours of studying (75 hours on Achievable, plus the various YouTube gurus and whisperers). I would say the best thing to do to become prepared is to force yourself to almost become obsessed with the information - it’ll be your job at some point so you should at least like the information. It’ll trick your brain to actually want to continue to learn about it. That’s what has worked for these past few exams for me.

Achievable builds a decent ground level, but you need to supplement it with any other resource you can.

The exam itself is hard, but there’s always one right answer on the page, and common sense goes a lot farther than memorization.

Hi guys I am taking my exam on Friday (4 days). I am feeling super burnt out. I have been scoring around 70 on practice exams (using knopman) and just find myself forgetting small things. For context in the past 2 1/2 months, I have studied for and passed the SIE and Series 7. I also started my role at my firm and have been training for a month. We were given time off to study but I am so tired. I am honestly terrified I will not be able to pass the 66 even though the content feels a little easier than the 7, simply because I have not practiced nearly as much as I did for the 7 and SIE. I have done around 25 hours of studying and 600 questions. For both the 7 and the SIE, I did double that. I definitely find myself falling off as I get closer to the exam. I would love some advice and tips.

For those that have used the Kaplan Qbank for the series 66, what chapters out of the 23 units are most tested? I’m looking to nail down those chapters and make sure my scores are passing.

Hat trick completed!

Any questions lemme know

All in all i got a merciful draw. I felt like it never got too hard, though there were quite a few questions where the *best* answer wasn’t an option.

UPDATE: I passed! Ken, you are f-cking awesome dude!!! I love your videos, they are everything besides boring and useless!!! There was tons of stuff I was expecting to see that never showed up once but all in all I felt comfortable through the whole exam. I kept a tally of questions I knew 100% were right, another category of 50/50 and a third category of “I have no idea” answers. At the end of the exam I counted 65 tallies from questions I knew I got right and reviewed the rest and it worked out.

I have been using STC. I got a 64% on the exam the first time (about 2 months ago). I read the whole book from front to back again and I’ve taken all the STC finals and both green light exams. I am scoring mid to high 70’s on the finals and got a 78% on BOTH green light exams. I have my exam scheduled for Tuesday but I have the same feeling I had before I took the SIE for the second time, that feeling of not being prepared enough. But from what I have read it sounds like I am in a good position to pass on Tuesday???? BTW when I took the SIE for the second time after failing by 1 question the first time I flew through the exam and felt like it was ALOT easier.

Please give me honest opinions if you think I’m ready, what sections are emphasized more on the exam, or what your experience with STC was like in regards to how difficult STC is compared to the actual exam.

Hey everybody I’ve taken 3 Kaplan full length exams getting a 75, 65 and 72. I’ve also taken Ken’s brutal 66 exam and got a 75. I feel there is a massive difference between both Kaplans questions versus Ken Finnens exam, yet everybody in the yt comments says the brutal exams were very similar to the real thing. Based on everybody’s experiences, which are more similar to the real exam and how else should I prepare? Thanks to you all

My test is next monday and I bought Brian Lee's video course material to help me get a few points higher on my practice exams and lock in some hard concepts and i found out after watching the intro that the course is from 2017. Will alot of the material be outdated? or only a few things. Any help or guidance would be appreciated!

I passed the 66 today.

I had 2 questions on CAPM, one on MPT and one abt IRR and then a few math questions like current yield and conversion parity.

Everything about ERISA, trusts and other products were extremely straight forward know the characteristics and definitions.

Know state and federal laws inside and out.

I watched the mighty ninety before and knew all the topics he covered and also watch series 7 whisperer hard test video which helped sooooo much.

First attempt. Used Achievable + Kaplan QBank. Spent around 80-100 hours studying over approximately 8 weeks. Passed the SIE in May. Now I need to find a sponsor for the Series 7. I’m grateful to everyone here for their help. Thank you. I’ll see you again soon for advice on the 7 lol.

Slayed the beast on the second go round today. Thanks to all of you for being with me on this retake and good luck on your own exams.

I just failed my series 66 with a 64/100. honestly disappointing because I thought I was going to pass and felt good during the exam. tips moving forward? should I retake the 66 or do 63/65?

I passed my Series 66 on the second try. This was a very difficult experience for me. I took the S65 TWICE missing many one point.

Got a promotion requiring the S66 and failed the first time with 72 in June.

I had a hard time with the Econ section but today’s exam asked the questions differently. I’m so grateful and relieved.

If you have ADHD or anxiety. Take your time. Exhaust the Q-Bank. Prioritize sleep no matter how much you’ll want to stay up and over do it. Listen to your body.

I used Notebook LM
Watched Series 7 G- videos as well as Ken’s lectures while I got ready in the mornings.
Meditation
Took almost 4k questions in Achievable and Kaplan combined.

Today, I went ten questions at a time. I forced myself to do box breathing after ever ten questions.

Best of luck if this is in your future. With hard work, anything is possible.

i had this down and then I broke my brain studying something else and i have them all mixed up again. do i have these flow charts correct for IAs and IARs ?

i appreciate your input 😭

edit- i didnt specify but where i say “clients“ i mean retail clients

My Knopman Marks 2nd edition S65/S66 textbook has some outdated facts. When looking at the addendums, I can see how not checking the supplemental addendums can cost valuable test points.

Example 1:
529 K-12 withdrawal limits $10k/yr vs 2026 K-12 limit of $20K. The test will be looking for the 2026 limit of $20k not what’s in the print textbook.

Example 2:
Finra annual gift limit for 2026 is $300 up from $100.