Checked 25 October 2026. Format checked against FINRA's Series 66 page and NASAA's test specifications effective 12 June 2023, on 25 Oct 2026. The drill list is ours, from NASAA's outline and study guide.
NASAA's study guide says its Series 66 questions are NASAA's copyright and may not be used, copied, reproduced or republished without its prior written consent. The three questions below, like all of ours, are our own, written to NASAA's outline. This guide covers how to use practice questions well, the pace the real exam asks for, what to drill in each of the four sections, and three questions you can try now, each with the reasoning behind the answer. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of NASAA or FINRA. The facts here are quoted or summarised from the official pages listed under Sources; NASAA, FINRA and the state securities regulators are the authorities on the exam and on registration.
FINRA Series 66 page; NASAA Series 66 Test Specifications and 2023 Study Guide.
Use practice questions to find gaps, not to collect scores
A routine that uses each mock once
- Early on, take a short set of questions untimed and list what you got wrong by outline section.
- Study the sections that cost you most from NASAA's own outline headings before you take a full mock.
- In the last two weeks, take full mocks with the real clock: 150 minutes, one sitting, no notes.
- After each mock, read the explanation for every question you got wrong or guessed, not only the score.
- Do not retake the same questions until you score well: you would be measuring memory, not knowledge.
Our suggestions, not NASAA's.
NASAA Series 66 Test Specifications, effective 12 June 2023.
FreeTests: Investment Vehicle Characteristics · Client/Customer Investment Recommendations and Strategies · Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines
Series 66 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer▶ Start nowThis one is free · no sign-in neededYour result shows how long each question took you.The pace the real exam asks for
You get 150 minutes for 110 questions, about 82 seconds each (our arithmetic). Check your pace at fixed points during a timed mock:
| After this many questions | Time used at an even pace (ours) |
|---|---|
| 30 | about 41 minutes |
| 55 | about 75 minutes |
| 80 | about 109 minutes |
| 110 | 150 minutes |
What to drill in each section
The drill list below comes from the headings in NASAA's test specifications and the laws and rules its study guide names. It is ours, not NASAA's list of what appears on any form.
| Section (scored questions) | Worth drilling (ours) |
|---|---|
| I. Economic Factors (8) | Future value and present value by hand, NPV and IRR as concepts, mean against median, what beta, alpha, the Sharpe ratio and correlation each tell you, the current and quick ratios, P/E and price-to-book. |
| II. Investment Vehicles (17) | Bond price against yield, the order of nominal yield, current yield, yield to maturity and yield to call for premium and discount bonds, duration, conversion parity, preferred stock features, open-end against closed-end funds and ETFs, share classes and breakpoints, option buyer and writer risk, fixed against variable annuities. |
| III. Recommendations and Strategies (30) | CAPM by hand, the efficient market hypothesis, strategic against tactical allocation, the tax basis of a sale, Roth against traditional IRAs, ERISA fiduciary duties and Section 404(c), 529 and UTMA control, JTWROS against tenants in common, time-weighted against dollar-weighted returns. |
| IV. Laws and Regulations (45) | Who is and is not an investment adviser, representative, broker-dealer or agent under the Uniform Securities Act; exempt securities against exempt transactions; registration timing (noon of the 30th day, expiry on 31 December); the Administrator's powers and civil liability; what an advisory contract must say; discretion (written within 10 business days for advisers, before the trade for agents); custody, NASAA's net worth figures and the brochure rule; the unethical practices model rules. |
- 2 mocks of 100 questions, 150 minutes each
- NASAA's 8 / 17 / 30 / 45 split across the four outline sections
- The rule or concept behind every answer
- Score by section and time per question after each mock
- Written to NASAA's Series 66 outline (effective June 2023)
Disclaimer
About this materialIndependent practice; not the official exam; not made or endorsed by NASAA or FINRATerms Privacy Refund policyCalculations worth doing by hand
Several topics in NASAA's Sections I to III, such as time value of money, yields, ratios and returns, lend themselves to short calculations; practising them by hand is our suggestion. The formulas below are the ones our own practice questions use, and the worked figures are our own examples.
| Topic | Formula | Example (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Future value | FV = PV x (1 + r) to the power n | $10,000 at 6% for two years = $11,236 |
| Current yield | Annual income / current market price | $50 coupon on a bond priced at $800 = 6.25% |
| Conversion parity | (Par / conversion price) x share price | $1,000 / $40 = 25 shares; 25 x $46 = $1,150 |
| Sharpe ratio | (Return - risk-free rate) / standard deviation | (10% - 2%) / 5% = 1.6 |
| CAPM expected return | Risk-free rate + beta x (market return - risk-free rate) | 3% + 1.5 x 6% = 12% |
| Taxable-equivalent yield | Tax-exempt yield / (1 - tax rate) | 3.6% / 0.60 = 6.0% |
| Total return | (Ending value - beginning value + income) / beginning value | ($22 - $20 + $1) / $20 = 15% |
| Quick ratio | (Current assets - inventory) / current liabilities | ($600,000 - $200,000) / $400,000 = 1.0 |
Section IV distinctions that decide questions
Our suggestion is to drill these Section IV distinctions from the Uniform Securities Act (1956, as amended by NASAA) and NASAA's model rules: pairs of rules that sit close together, each with the provision it comes from.
| Distinction | What the provision says |
|---|---|
| Exempt security against exempt transaction | Section 402(a) exempts listed securities from the registration and sales-literature filing sections, for example securities issued or guaranteed by the United States or a state or its subdivisions, and securities issued by and representing an interest in or a debt of, or guaranteed by, a bank organised under US law, or a bank, savings institution or trust company organised and supervised under state law. Section 402(b) exempts listed transactions from Sections 301 and 403, for example any isolated non-issuer transaction, a sale to a bank or other listed institution, or a non-issuer transaction by or through a registered broker-dealer on an unsolicited order (the Administrator may require a signed acknowledgment that it was unsolicited). |
| When a registration takes effect against when it expires | Section 202(a): if no denial order is in effect and no proceeding is pending under Section 204, registration takes effect at noon of the 30th day after the application is filed; the Administrator may set an earlier date or defer it after an amendment. Section 201(e): every registration or notice filing under Section 201 expires on 31 December unless renewed. |
| Written discretionary authority: adviser against broker-dealer | NASAA's adviser model rule treats as unethical exercising discretion without written authority obtained within 10 business days after the first trade placed under oral authority, unless the discretion relates solely to the price or time of an order for a definite amount of a specified security. NASAA's broker-dealer model rule requires written discretionary authority first, unless the discretion relates solely to the time or price of executing orders, and applies the same item to agents. |
| Withdrawal against cancellation | Section 204(e): a withdrawal takes effect 30 days after the Administrator receives the application (or sooner if the Administrator decides), unless a revocation or suspension proceeding is pending when the application is filed, or a proceeding to revoke, suspend or impose conditions on the withdrawal is instituted within 30 days after it is filed; after an automatic withdrawal the Administrator may still begin a revocation or suspension proceeding under Section 204(a)(2)(B) within one year. Section 204(d): the Administrator may cancel the registration of a registrant no longer in existence or in business, subject to an adjudication of mental incompetence or to a guardian or conservator, or who cannot be located after reasonable search. |
| Criminal against civil liability | Section 409(a) provides criminal penalties, on conviction, for a person who willfully violates the act or a rule or order under it (for a violation of Section 404, only if the person knows the statement is false or misleading in a material respect). Under Section 410(a), a person who sells a security in violation of specified sections (such as registration) is liable to the buyer; so is a person who sells by an untrue statement or misleading omission of a material fact the buyer did not know of, unless that seller proves it did not know, and with reasonable care could not have known, of it. The buyer recovers the price paid plus interest, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, less income received, on tender of the security and any income received on it, or damages if the buyer no longer owns it. Section 410(f): no suit more than 3 years after the contract of sale or the rendering of investment advice, or 2 years after discovery of the facts, whichever comes first. |
| Net worth figures for advisers | NASAA's minimum financial requirements model rule, for advisers registered or required to register in the state: $35,000 for an adviser with custody (with stated exceptions, such as custody arising only from direct fee deduction that meets the custody rule's safeguards), $10,000 for one with discretion but no custody, and a positive net worth for one that accepts prepayment of more than $500 per client six or more months in advance. |
| Brochure timing | NASAA's brochure model rule, subject to its stated exceptions: initial delivery at least 48 hours before entering into the contract, or at the time of entering into it if the client may terminate without penalty within five business days; each year, either (A) within 120 days of fiscal year end, a free updated brochure and related brochure supplements with a summary of material changes, or (B) a summary of material changes with an offer of the updated brochure and supplements and information on how the client may obtain copies (no annual delivery is needed if there were no material changes since the last summary and brochure delivery). |
When you review a mock, read the explanation for every question you got right by luck, not only the ones you got wrong. In Section IV, our suggestion is to treat each lucky guess as a distinction to study, such as which issuers' representatives are excluded from the definition of agent, or which transactions keep their exemption when a commission is paid.
FreeTests: Investment Vehicle Characteristics · Client/Customer Investment Recommendations and Strategies · Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines
Series 66 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer▶ Start nowThis one is free · no sign-in neededYour result shows how long each question took you.Try three practice questions
These three are original questions we wrote to the outline: one each from Sections II, III and IV. Try each before you open the answer.
Practice question · Section II · bond yields
A 20-year bond with a 6% coupon, callable at par in 5 years, trades at a premium to par. Which ranking of its yields is correct, highest to lowest?
- A. Current yield, nominal yield, yield to call, yield to maturity
- B. Yield to call, yield to maturity, current yield, nominal yield
- C. Nominal yield, current yield, yield to maturity, yield to call
- D. Yield to maturity, yield to call, nominal yield, current yield
Show the answer and why
Answer: C.
For a bond bought at a premium and callable at par in 5 years, the coupon (nominal yield) is highest; current yield (coupon / price) is lower; yield to maturity is lower still because the premium is lost by maturity; yield to call is lowest because the premium is lost sooner, at the call date.
An original ProSyllabus practice question, written to the topics in NASAA's Series 66 test specifications. It is not a NASAA exam question.
Practice question · Section III · capital market theory
The risk-free rate is 3%, the expected market return is 9% and a stock's beta is 1.5. What expected return does the capital asset pricing model give?
- A. 10.5%
- B. 13.5%
- C. 12%
- D. 9%
Show the answer and why
Answer: C.
CAPM: expected return = risk-free rate + beta x (market return - risk-free rate) = 3% + 1.5 x (9% - 3%) = 3% + 9% = 12%.
An original ProSyllabus practice question, written to the topics in NASAA's Series 66 test specifications. It is not a NASAA exam question.
Practice question · Section IV · discretion
An investment adviser representative receives oral discretionary authority to choose which securities, and how much, to buy and sell in a client's account, and places a trade on Monday. Under NASAA's model rule for investment advisers, by when must written authority be obtained?
- A. Within 30 calendar days after the first trade
- B. Within one year, at the annual review of the account
- C. Before the first discretionary trade is placed
- D. Within 10 business days after the first discretionary trade
Show the answer and why
Answer: D.
NASAA's Unethical Business Practices of Investment Advisers model rule allows oral discretionary authority, but written discretionary authority must be obtained within ten business days after the date of the first transaction placed under the oral authority. Discretion relating solely to the price or time of an order for a definite amount of a specified security does not need written authority.
An original ProSyllabus practice question, written to the topics in NASAA's Series 66 test specifications. It is not a NASAA exam question.
Reading a practice score
A percentage on a practice mock is not a Series 66 result. The real pass mark is a count, at least 73 of the 100 scored questions, on a form NASAA assembles from its own pool. Treat any practice percentage as a guide to where you are strong and weak, not a forecast. For the format and what each section covers, see our Series 66 format and outline guide. ProSyllabus sells an independent Series 66 practice exam, offered after this guide: two timed 100-question mocks of our own questions. It is independent practice; not the official exam; not made or endorsed by NASAA or FINRA.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I spend on each Series 66 question?
About 82 seconds on average, by our arithmetic: 150 minutes divided by 110 questions.
Which section of the Series 66 has the most questions?
Section IV, Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines, with 45 of the 100 scored questions under NASAA's test specifications effective 12 June 2023.
Are practice questions the same as real Series 66 questions?
They should not be. NASAA's study guide says its exam questions are its copyright and may not be reproduced without its consent. We write our own practice questions to the outline.
What score should I aim for on practice mocks?
We know of no official practice target. The real pass mark is 73 of 100 scored questions; use the questions you miss, by section, to find what to study next.
Sources
- official — FINRA — Series 66 Uniform Combined State Law Exam (100 scored + 10 unscored questions, 150 minutes, pass 73 of 100 scored, corequisites SIE + S7TO as FINRA lists them, cost $177)
- official — NASAA — Series 66 Test Specifications (the document is marked "Effective June 12, 2023"; four sections: 8%, 17%, 30%, 45%) (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Series 66 Exam Study Guide (dated 1 September 2023): structure, scoring, the version of the Uniform Securities Act tested, and the laws and rules eligible for testing (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Series 66 Exam Content Outline page
- official — NASAA — Uniform Securities Act (1956) with NASAA updates and commentary (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Unethical Business Practices of Investment Advisers, Investment Adviser Representatives and Federal Covered Advisers model rule 102(a)(4)-1 (amended 2019) (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Dishonest or Unethical Business Practices of Broker-Dealers and Agents (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Minimum Financial Requirements for Investment Advisers model rule (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Brochure Rule for investment advisers (PDF)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
FreeTests: Investment Vehicle Characteristics · Client/Customer Investment Recommendations and Strategies · Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines
Series 66 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer▶ Start nowThis one is free · no sign-in neededYour result shows how long each question took you.
