Free 30-Day SIE Study Plan

Before day one

Choose the smallest repeatable session.

Standard session · 25 minutes

5 minutes retrieve yesterday’s rules; 12 minutes learn or practice; 8 minutes explain misses without the answer choices.

Small-day session · 10 minutes

Retrieve one rule, answer five mixed questions, and write one correction. A smaller real session beats a perfect imaginary one.

PRINT

Use your browser’s Print command (⌘P or Ctrl+P) to print this checklist or save it as a PDF. Checkbox state is not stored after you leave this page.

Week one

Baseline and foundations

Days 1–7

01Take a mixed baseline without notes. Record rules missed, correct guesses, and pacing—not just the percentage.
02Map the four official sections: Capital Markets 16%, Products and Risks 44%, Trading and Accounts 31%, Regulatory Framework 9%.
03Retrieve market participants, regulators, and economic effects. Answer five Capital Markets questions.
04Compare primary and secondary markets, offering types, and issuer versus investor perspectives.
05Build an equity-versus-debt comparison from memory: claim, return, priority, risks, and voting rights.
06Practice bond price/yield relationships, maturity, coupon, credit, call, and reinvestment risk.
07Recovery and recall: explain five rules from the week without notes. Repair only what you cannot retrieve.

Week two

Products and their risks

Days 8–14 · heaviest section

08Compare common, preferred, rights, warrants, ADRs, and the risks each structure creates.
09Retrieve Treasury, agency, municipal, and corporate debt distinctions; practice tax and suitability qualifiers carefully.
10Map option buyer rights, writer obligations, maximum gain/loss boundaries, and intrinsic value.
11Compare mutual funds, closed-end funds, ETFs, UITs, and variable products by structure, pricing, fees, and liquidity.
12Practice investment returns, inflation, purchasing power, diversification, liquidity, and systematic versus specific risk.
13Take a fresh Products and Risks set. Mark every correct guess as unresolved and explain each distractor.
14Recovery day: make a one-page product comparison from memory, then check it against your course and official outline.

Week three

Trading, accounts, and conduct

Days 15–21

15Retrieve market, limit, stop, and stop-limit order behavior; separate certainty of price from certainty of execution.
16Practice trade settlement, transaction parties, confirmations, and the difference between execution and completion.
17Compare individual, joint, custodial, retirement, discretionary, and entity account features at the exam’s level.
18Study customer communications, recommendations, records, approvals, privacy, and red-flag escalation.
19Retrieve prohibited practices: insider trading, manipulation, improper use of customer assets, and outside activities.
20Take a fresh Trading and Accounts set under time pressure. Sort misses into knowledge, qualifier, calculation, or pacing.
21Mixed checkpoint across Sections 1–3. Revisit repeated reasoning errors before adding more notes.

Week four

Regulation, integration, and readiness

Days 22–30

22Map registration categories, qualification exams, continuing education, and the SIE’s limits.
23Retrieve reportable events, Form U4/U5 concepts, disciplinary actions, and associated-person responsibilities.
24Take a Regulatory Framework set, then mix ten questions from the other three sections.
25Use the official FINRA practice test or a fresh comprehensive-course form in realistic conditions.
26Repair the form: explain why the correct choice works and why each close distractor fails.
27Re-test the three weakest rule families with new questions. Do not memorize the previous answer sequence.
28Run an appointment-length session and practice steady pacing, reading qualifiers, and answering every item.
29Light retrieval only. Confirm identification, appointment, travel or online-system requirements at the official source.
30Make the readiness decision using repeated evidence, timing, recovery, and logistics—not one score or fear.

End-of-month review

Ask better questions than “Did I finish?”

Which rule families can I explain without answer choices?Which mistakes repeated, and what caused them?Can I sustain the appointment length and pace?What is the smallest next repair if I am not ready?

No unofficial percentage guarantees a pass. If your knowledge is uneven, timing breaks down, or life logistics are unstable, extend the plan. A changed date is information—not failure.

Use the appointment decision guide →

Sources and limits

Built around the official blueprint.

Beta review

Plan structure and source alignment were checked September 7, 2026. Exact exam-bank content still requires independent securities-SME approval before indexed launch.

FINRA: dated 2025 SIE Content Outline — four-section weights and tested knowledge.
FINRA: SIE information for students — current format, duration, passing score, and candidate context.
FINRA: SIE Practice Test — official practice and its stated predictive limits.

Role by Role is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by FINRA. This plan is educational material, not a pass prediction, guarantee, comprehensive course, investment advice, legal advice, registration advice, or testing-provider instruction. Verify current exam details and policies with FINRA.