How to Keep Your Series 7 License Active for 5 Years After Leaving The Securities Industry

It’s official! Yesterday May 12, 2023 was my last day in the Securities industry, at least for right now, as I am moving into the challenging world of Public Accounting in an effort to try and triple or quadruple my salary in the next 10 years, which I think will be extremely challenging but also doable. And so, the thought that crossed my mind is the new FINRA program available and of how to keep your Series 7 license active for 5 years after leaving the Securities Industry! As well as how you can get your Series 66 back without sponsorship even after the license has expired, stay tuned!

Other Securities licenses that we will cover on this blog include the following

SIE

Series 66

Series 63

Series 65

Series 7

Series 9

Series 10

Series 24

CFP

CPA

CHFC

CLU

2-15 Variable Annuity License

Notary Public

Law School

The Enrolled Agent Designation

And much more. I have learned that in the field of finance, if you have a good understanding of money you can make a lot of money and open up a ton of opportunities by just by taking tons of licensing exams!

How to Keep Your Series 7 License Active for Half a Decade!

There is something called the FINRA MQP, Maintaining Qualifications Program by FINRA (see more information on this here) which allows you to keep your Series 7 license active even after you have left the Securities Business for 5 full years! Basically what this means is that once you get your hands on the Series 7 license, congratulations, if you are a functional employee and you have at least somewhat decent references, YOU HAVE BOUGHT YOURSELF A JOB FOREVER!

Which is good for someone like me because the job of being a CSA has become somewhat monotonous and I am instead moving on to become a tax accountant as I just find it more challenging and interesting. With that being said it may very well be a pipe dream, but you don’t know unless you experience it, so I’m giving it a go.

What this new FINRA program does for brokers however is allows them to maintain their certifications so that they can always go back. It’s helpful for FINRA and the Wealth Management industry as a whole because it helps to keep qualified people from dropping out of the business altogether due to time lulls.

What About My Series 66 Will This Expire?

Unfortunately you cannot keep your Series 66 active under this program. The Series 66 is not eligible for the 5 year continuing education exception to the rule and will expire 2 years after your final day at a FINRA member firm. There are ways around getting the Series 66 back without having sponsorship however, so it is not as much of a burden as losing your Series 7 would be. 

Once It Expires How Can I Get The License Back Without Firm Sponsorship, Enter The 63 and 65

The combination of the Series 63 and the Series 65 makes up your Series 66, which is the missing piece of your full FINRA Registration that you can get back on your own terms. The way to do this is to go to FINRA, open up your exam window and sign up for the Series 63. Get that out of the way first since it’s only like 80 pages and it’s stupid easy, there’s also some overlap between exams. Then you are going to tackle the 65, which is much harder but still not as hard as the Series 66.

Get all that done and you’re back to being a fully registered broker! The leverage that having these licenses gives you is truly amazing over your career, you will always have a job at or near six figures! Definitely worth at least a few million dollars in lifetime earnings. 

The Dangerous Combination of Combining The CPA and CFP With a Series 7 and Series 66 Broker Registration

Now here’s where my plan gets really cool. Let’s say my resume looks like this and I want to get into a compliance role or advisory role, or home office, or Wealth Management Consultant, or whatever title I’m looking for. The licenses can look like this:

SIE, Active

Series 7, Active

Series 63, Active

Series 65, Active

Notary Public, Active

2-15, Active

CPA, Active

CFP, CHFC, CLU (you can get the two add on licenses to the CFP super quickly), Active

ACAMS – This is an AML certification that unlocks the doors for that career field., Active

At this point you are DANGEROUS in the career field! And you’ve gotten some seriously nice leverage. A six figure salary awaits you for how qualified you are here!

Why You Should Look Into a Notary Stamp And An Insurance License If You Are Trying to Break Into This Business

These are two little known add-ons, as well as the Enrolled Agent designation, if you wanted to break into the Securities business and you were starting from square one. Say I was right out of college and I was working at a call center making $15 an hour and had a basic business degree. Here’s what I would do to get get into the business and skyrocket my leverage:

Step 1 – Take the SIE

Step 2 – Become a Notary

Step 3 – Get the 2-15 Designation

Step 4 – Get fully registered – Get my 63 and 65 licenses

Step 5 – Get the Enrolled Agent Designation 

Step 6 – Walk into H and R Block and start gaining tax experience, they will hire you with that EA credential. Work here for one year. 

Step 7 – Look for entry level WM jobs and tell them in the interview that you could take your Series 7 TOMORROW and that you’re then a fully registered rep. Tell them you’ve been wanting to be in this business for a long time and that you are eager to join and looking for a shot. Take a sales advisory role if you have to with no salary to get the 7. 

Step 8 – Grind in the business and make some dough. 

What Does The FINRA CE Look Like, And Is The Fee $100?

The FINRA continuing education is a quick online course that will take you several hours per year to allow you to maintain your 7 license for as much as half a decade. This is a newly introduced program meant to keep brokers and qualified candidates in the industry, and it is an awesome one at that. I seriously owe my old manager a lot of money for telling me about this little known gem!

Final Thoughts On How to Keep Your Series 7 License Active for 5 Years After Leaving The Securities Industry

And there’s the secret! Comment down below and let us know what you think. Leave an inquisitive question and I just might give you another gem of the Securities Industry in the answer 🙂

*Inflation Hedging.com

Sources:

https://www.bankrate.com/banking/cds/cd-rates/

https://money.cnn.com/data/markets/

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