I did a lot of time scouring the community boards here and reddit threads to try and determine the best study material provider for me personally. I ended up choosing Achievable for the SIE (passed first attempt in September) and had such a smooth experience decided to double down with Achievable for the Series 65 (passed first attempt this past weekend). I just want to write out a post that I think would have answered the questions that I was looking for answers to when I was searching for what direction to go in for study materials, general support and what I found to be the pros and cons of the material here.
First a little about my background: I worked for an IA for 3 years out of college. A Research Analyst for 2 years and a paraplanner for 1 year. I was in the midst of studying for the Series 65 with Kaplan when I decided at that time to pursue my passion career (brewing) rather than continue on the financial planning route. For that reason, I was half heartedly studying for the exam with Kaplan and knew that I was going to leave to chase my passion career. Fast forward about 6.5 years to today, and I had to have some tough conversations with myself. I am getting married this year, have 3 dogs, have a house and bills, aspirations of having children and a our own house, a future wife and kids who will need healthcare, dental, and vision coverage, etc. As much as I love brewing beer and what I do, I do not and will not have access to the benefits that I will need for a family or the upward mobility to provide for them. So one day this past summer I decided to dust off the old books and get back to it and now here I am, having studied for and passed both the SIE and Series 65 on my first attempt in the span of 4 months after not working in the industry for 6.5 years.
So now to the material. I’ll start with what I loved about Achievable. First and foremost: the language. If you thrive as a learner by reading and interpreting material through normal language: this is it for you. They speak to you like a normal person, in a normal conversation. Conveying the material this way makes it relatable. They often provide specific examples with links to articles or youtube videos (sometimes even in a comedic vein) to add context to what might otherwise be a confusing concept and it just makes sense. This instantly clicked with me. Clips to The Wolf of Wall Street, or realistic day to day examples of how to conceptualize a concept really clicks for me and my brain, and Achievable does that better than any study material I’ve used to date. This made sitting down every night for 4 months truly never feel like a chore. It was always interesting and engaging.
I also loved how they structure the timeline. When you enter your test date, they give you a really realistic outline on how to tackle the material and the time estimates are pretty accurate. You will learn your own best rhythm as you start tackling the material but you begin to understand what are good catchup days and what are going to be longer days and it becomes a really nice structured studying process.
What I would recommend to anybody reading this or considering studying for these exams using Achievable: do not short cut the material. Read every word of the textbook. My process was as follows: read the chapter, write down the “Key Points” section after the chapter into a notebook (even if I was comfortable with the material), take the quiz, if you miss questions on the quiz start the quiz over and do it again until you’re 100%'ing the quiz. If you are missing questions on the quiz: read the explanations. If you guessed and got an answer right on the quiz: read the explanation. If you got an answer right anyway: read the explanation. I can’t emphasize enough how important (in my opinion) this methodical way of consuming the material is. It takes a long time! Longer than if you just breeze through the material. But it is so worth it when you’re taking chapter tests or full final exams in the end and you have been thorough and nothing surprises you.
My experience with the SIE was incredibly smooth. I consumed the material using the above method, took all of the tests, took 6 full final exams (scoring 88-92 on each), went in and took the test and passed. This is where things start to get a little bit shaky for me though. There is just no disputing, the Series 65 is a different beast of a test. It was a significant step up in difficulty, in my opinion. And it was where I believe I started to see some cracks in Achievable’s material.
The 65 is a really dense exam. Characteristics, legal, suitability, recommendations, the list goes on. I personally found Achievable’s breakdown for the 65 to be way more drawn out. I’m sure this was strategic because of the density of the exam and training you to get used to longer and more dense testing check-ins. But the super infrequent “chapter tests” (5 compared to the SIE’s 20) made it feel like you were hanging onto material for just too long before checking in on it again. And this is where I run into the next issue. You might argue, “well that’s what the reviews are for!” Sure, that is what the reviews are for. But using my method of studying and consuming the material took on average 2.5 - 3 hours a night. I have a job and a house and pets and partner to spend time with. If I were going to add in reviews each night this would have easily taken me 3.5 - 4 hours a night, and not enough time for the other things. Additionally, reviews pile up way too fast. A recommendation I have for Achievable is like the study plan for your designated test date designs the program for you: build in review days in addition to reading days. Even if it makes the reading day before or after a longer day, simply build in a few days for reviews only. These pile up WAY too fast and get way too daunting to revisit, and by the time you have a few hundred piled up, if you randomize the order you’re getting topics from all over the place and it just feels too random and too disorganized and is more of a frustrating reminder of how much you haven’t kept up on them instead of being this really nice tool to reinforce what you’ve done. This same sentiment can be said for the SIE but it really reared its head for me on the 65.
I think there needs to be shorter, more focused final exams. The practice finals are only full length. These are awesome, and make you get used to the length and number of questions but I think it would be so so helpful to have a condensed version. Similarly accurately weighted for the exam, but 60-70 questions rather than 130. I say this because my test method was: take exam, go back and review every question with the explanations (especially questions I got wrong or felt like I guessed on). This just piles up in time. I think a few more condensed shorter version tests or review options encompassing all of the material would be an amazing addition.
My last sticking point was in relation to the 65 specifically. I found my preparation and final exam readiness to be pretty on point with the SIE. My exam day experience was, more or less, on par with Achievable. This just was not the case with the 65. I knew after my 3rd final exam on the 65 and scoring a 92 (again) that this just seemed a little too easy. I just didn’t think that in casting a wide enough net (even accurately weighted and randomized to reflect the actual test) that I would be scoring this high. I also ran into a lot of repeat questions. I scoured the community boards here and Achievable consistently says that there would not be repeat questions on your exams here and that they wouldn’t give you repeat questions. This just isn’t true. I began memorizing answers/answer sets and found repeat questions on each practice final I took. This isn’t a “bad” thing either! Especially if it was a questions I had gotten wrong initially, I was always happy to see it again because I was, in essence, drilling it. The problem began to take a hold though when I found myself memorizing answer sets and question setups. After taking 4 finals and feeling too comfortable and feeling like I was scoring too high, I decided to watch Dean Tinney’s (series 7 guru) videos on youtube (they’re amazing and free) to supplement the material I learned here. And sure enough, I passed.
The exam day test from NASAA was just simply nothing like what I had seen leading up to it. The way that they convey the language of a question in such vague misleading language, providing more than one answer that seems feasible, makes it a much more difficult test day experience than the practices I was doing here. I found that Achievable’s answers are usually pretty cut and dry. If you know the topic, you will get the answer. Test day was just a different animal. They intentionally try to mislead you, and not just with “except” templates or double negatives or misdirection, but with two legitimate answers that can feel correct, with one being “more” correct. This isn’t a “knock” on achievable, if anything it feels good and reassuring to be taking tests and feeling confident in the answers because you have prepared for that and it’s awesome to get that feedback. But just be aware that your actual test day results may vary. The 65 was not an easy exam, the language was dense and meandering and if you’re prepared for that and supplement some of the material here you will be okay!
It might sound like I’m providing more negative than positive but that is simply not the case. I’m highlighting the only “cons” in my experience because they’re the things that I’m left with in the end of it. I wouldn’t be here having passed both exams without Achievable. And if I were taking another professional exam I would be signing up with Achievable without a second thought, 100%. My studying was never a drag, it was always thorough, I felt prepared, but just be ready for test day to look and feel slightly different and more difficult.
Anyway, I know this is a long post but I want to close by saying Achievable is absolutely fantastic. Their relatable, thorough material makes studying for what can be an absolute snooze fest of an exam feel refreshing and attention holding. All in I spent ~75 hours on the SIE and ~70 hours on the 65 and it was never a drag. Not once. That’s a testament to the program they’ve built here and I can’t speak highly enough of it and how it prepared me for the exams. I think a few small tweaks and this program is bulletproof. I absolutely give it my endorsement, and best of luck to whoever reads this! Cheers!