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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
90 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Almost there... but not quite.,
By
This review is from: Pass the 65: A Training Guide for the Nasaa Series 65 Exam (Paperback)
This books has gotten nothing but great reviews from its users on Amazon. I just finished taking the Series 65 test today and let me tell you, this book "almost" gets the job done. The previous reviewers all sounded very similar and it made me hesitant in purchasing this book, but nonetheless I did and it was helpful, though not to the point where this book ALONE would help you pass the test. The previous reviews sounded so generic and repetitive (to a point where its suspicious), so I am going to give a realistic review of this study material.
Don't get me wrong, Walker did a great job explaining difficult concepts into plain English that allowed the reader to better understand the full meaning of all the difficult concepts. Unfortunately, I find myself asking why are some information missing. Besides using Walker's book, I used the Kaplan's 1st Edition in studying for the Series 65. Kaplan's strength was Walker's weakness in the sense that Kaplan covered much more materials than Walker. One might argue that you don't need that much detail to just pass the test, but having taken the test myself, there are questions that get quite detailed. Examples of materials that Walker should have covered more grounds were the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the different types of trusts just to name a few. Kaplan does a great job covering those materials, however, it is a very dry read. In addition Walker needs to completely rewrite his section on "retirement accounts" because he got it all wrong. He claim that SEP and SIMPLE IRA are non-qualified plans, which is totally wrong. Payroll deductions are non-qualified plans. So he needs to edit that part all together. I am glad I have the Kaplan book because I would have gone into the test with the wrong information if I had only relied on Walker's explanation. The other thing that annoyed me was that the book referred you to his passthe65.com website to get updated information, but unfortunately, when you get to that website, you'll find no updates and just a website that sells his products. I don't think it's hard to create a web page with updated info and Walker should consider doing that since his books keeps telling his readers to go to that website to find updated info. In addition to the context, the three practice exams that come with the book is TOO EASY. If I were to give them skill level ratings on a scale of 1-5 (1 being easiest), I would say most the questions were around 1-2 in difficultly and one or two questions are at 3 rating. If you want to pass Series 65, you must deduct about 15% - 20% off your score on Walker's sample test to get an estimate as to how well you'll do on the actual test. I recommend Kaplan's Drill CD set which contains over 2300 questions that can be randomly generated to create different tests each time the user uses it. Overall, Walker does a great job in explaining all the main big concepts (most testable points) so that his readers can fully understand the subject, but the book alone won't guarantee that you'll pass the test. Don't get me wrong, it did help me. However, my reasoning for my rating is that the book didn't discuss some other important concepts and also the practice questions were not representative of the actual test in a negative way (too easy). In addition, the whole retirement section needs to be rewritten. I recommend using this book along side a Kaplan's book to ensure passing of the test. Only if Kaplan would hire Walker to write their text, then the result would be an easy to understand book that covers ALL th testable subjects. It'll probably be the best material out there. But hey, we don't live in a perfect world. By the way, I did pass the test on my first try. :-)
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Yes and No...,
By
This review is from: Pass the 65: A Training Guide for the Nasaa Series 65 Exam (Paperback)
The previous poster below me, "S. Wang" is certainly correct in saying that some of the previous reviews here are awfully suspicious. Many of them can be seen as two-three sentences praising the book on similar points of humor and how Walker has made a great experience. Many of them sadly, feel fake and often quite scripted. As we have seen, there have a been a rise in fake reviews fluffling books for higher sales. If this is true or not for this book, perhaps only Amazon actually will know.
Style I will elaborate into how this book did and did not help, hopefully helping out anyone before they fuel a 70 dollar purchase. If you enjoy humorous reading, then you will probably enjoy this book. Walker tries, although sometimes too hard, to be funny throughout the book. Sometimes it works. If you're easily amused, you may find that you enjoy this book quite a lot. However, if simple humor doesn't interest you, you will find it tedious and annoying to read a paragraph about a fabricated story between an idiotic human and their interactions with an agent of a broker-dealer. When I was reading through this, I was slashing with my pen right and left to eliminate entire paragraphs, sometimes, even half of pages, regarding as unnecessary and fluff. With 300+ pages of actual content to read, this book isn't exactly by any means to skim. Content Did this book get the job done? As previously stated below me, yes and no. Due to complications, though considerably more my fault, over Spring Break, I needed to get this exam out of the way. I signed up for an exam that administered two days later. Of course, I disregarded the first day and ignored studying. However, the day prior to studying, I sat down and read the book cover to cover over the course of twelve hours. I felt nervous and not very confident when taking the exam. All was going well into, well, the exam strokes a series of unethical questions and practices. Material, that unfortunately, had not yet been covered by the book. I was quite nervous at the time and discovered to my dismay, a continuation of more material that had not been covered. I realize that some readers will be thinking, "Did he merely just forget in his late night cramming?" I am quite sure the crucial information was not in the book. I knew full well ahead of time of things I "forgot" and material that I had never seen before. But, I did pass. So, that may be compared and contrasted with who wants to purchase this book. A quick forewarning though - brevity is not Walker was aiming for. I am sure that Walker could have contained still quite a plethora of his jokes and still cut down his book seventy pages. You will notice immediately that his book is filled with them. If you enjoy them, which I know some have, it will help. However, if you're looking for a book to get the job done , then perhaps this study guide is not for you. However, if you are normal and sane, you will probably enjoy them. Needless to say, when you're tired, lacking sleep, and worried about a three hour exam in the morning, jokes are the last thing you are concerned about. If you know for a fact you won't procrastinate (an unlikely fact at that, or you would have already taken this exam), then I certainly recommending this. The Series 65 is not a difficult exam. It is no CFP, or by no means ever comparable to a CFA (in fact, putting the Series Exams in the same sentence with the CFA insults the latter tremendously). This book will get the job done. Just make sure the material that is covered in this material is remembered. By doing so, you can compensate for the lack of information about certain Acts and Laws the book does not mention. However, if you're goal is to absolutely score 85+, I would recommend using two separate books. I didn't, but I did wish I had at 4:52AM this morning.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best 65 study material available,
By
This review is from: Pass the 65: A Training Guide for the Nasaa Series 65 Exam (Paperback)
I purchased two other Series 65 study material from some of the major publishers and was met with overly technical information that was difficult to follow and did not capture my attention.
After reading a short part of Robert Walker's material, I decided to give it a try. Walker understand what it's like to be an agent and he writes in a fun, humorous way in order to get this confusing material to sink in. He also used great scenerios to help explain how things work, like options, which until now I couldn't begin to tell you how they work. Every time I think about options now, I try to think about the guy at the bar who orders a Jack & Pepsi. After three weeks of studying every day, I passed the 65 with ease. I was so confident of my knowledge that after the first 20 questions in the exam, I knew I would pass. My final score was a 78%. No material will prepare you for 100% of the exam questions, which doesn't matter, because you only need a 70% to pass. Luckily for me I didn't have any questions that required a calculator or answer a question about options, but I was prepared for both. Do remember, there will always be questions you aren't prepared for, just know with this material you will be prepared to pass with more than 70% if you put forth the time. If you want a fun way to study for the Series 65, then this book is for you.
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