2 min to read
But you don't get to win unless you're playing the game
I'm taking the Series 65
Why I decided to take the exam
I was looking at the ways that people accumulate wealth in our country and without fail every one of them ends up playing in the capital markets at some point. Whether they started out there or made their way to it this seems to be a common denominator. So I could wait until I have enough money to jump in - or I could just dive in right now.
I am currently studying for the series 65. Why you ask, well that one is simple. I want to be able to invest in private companies and that opportunity is currently locked to me. The fact of the matter is that you need to be an accredited investor in order to do that or have a prior relationship with the company. There are some people who may not know what an accredited investor is so I’ll blow it up right here:
An accredited investor must meet at least one of the three following criteria:
- Have at least two consecutive years of income of $200,000 or greater
- Have $1,000,000 in investible assets - so not including your personal residence
- Hold certain professional certifications
So checking that list I can certainly say that I haven’t made $200,000/yr and I don’t have a million dollars so that leaves me with one avenue to invest in unregistered securities - study my tail off and pass a test. Writing or at least explaining things can help solidify your knowledge so I’m going to be writing from time to time about what I’m learning. It’ll be helpful for me to get my thoughts down and who knows it could help someone else that’s interested in some of these topics.
How it’s going
So far I’ve made it through three of the sections in the Pass Perfect Study materials that I’m using so I don’t have much longer to go. So far it hasn’t been that bad, some of the subjects aren’t as riveting - I’m looking at you annuities - but all in all, it has been pretty fun. At the very least I know more now about how our financial system works than I did before. I have a degree in Economics which gave me a good high-level overview, but this goes so much deeper it’s exciting.
My goal once I become certified is to join a few syndicates and try my hand at late-stage investing to try to get a little more juice out of my nickels. I have three companies that I’m looking into right now that seem perfect so I need to keep grinding and pass this test so that I can get in before they go public.
