The SIE Exam challenges students with all different academic backgrounds. Even those with economics or finance degrees, the exam is still not a cake-walk. In today’s post, we highlight the most challenging areas. These areas are ultimately where we recommend you spend a little more time.
SIE Exam Challenges…Start with Options
Below is a list of topics we at Professional Exam Tutoring hear about the most:
- Options
- Bonds
- Mutual Funds
- Annuities
- Order Types
- Investment Risks
Most initial conversations with students includes an acknowledgment that Options are quite difficult to understand. The most common experience is that a student has no experience with Options before the exam, and is not likely to use Options after the exam.
Therefore, there is a fleeting moment in which you need to be familiar with Options.
Some very general advice to start with is to make sure you’re reviewing Options at least once every three or four days. This is a topic that leaves the mind very quickly. Some easy memory tricks like “Call Up, Put Down” or “SLoBS and BLiSS” can also help. If you’re looking for some help on the subject, try our SIE Exam Tutor.
Aside from Options, there are a few other popular requests from students.
SIE Exam Problems
The section on bonds is easily the second most requested topic we get. Bonds are often more complicated than stocks. For instance, in bonds you have to keep track of their prices, as well as their yields. The two move inversely from one another, which can get confusing.
Beyond bonds, mutual funds, annuities, order types, and investment risks also create headaches. Most of the rest of the exam is memorizing rules and regulations, and getting familiar with jargon.
To help get a baseline of where you’re at, we highly recommend the practice exam by FINRA. Go to FINRA’s website and see how you score on this practice exam.
It tends to be quite representative of where a student is at in their studying. Use the wrong answers as feedback on where you should focus.
Overall, this is definitely a doable exam. For the SIE Exam 2025 is no different than other years. Spread studying out over a period of weeks, and you can do this! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Good luck!