← All SIE guides · 7 minute read · Reviewed August 2026
What licenses do you need to be a financial advisor? Usually 2 or 3
Short answer: it depends on which kind of advisor you become, and there are only two main paths. If you join a brokerage firm and earn commissions on products, you need the SIE plus the Series 7 and Series 66 (or the Series 63 and 65 pair). If you charge fees for advice at an independent firm, one exam, the Series 65, can be the entire list. Everything else you have heard of, the CFP included, is a credential you add on top, not a license.
The license stack at a glance
Fees and requirements checked on finra.org and nasaa.org in August 2026.
| Exam | What it lets you do | Need a firm to sit it? | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIE | Nothing alone; the FINRA entry exam the Series 6 and 7 build on | No | $100 |
| Series 7 | Sell nearly the full product menu: stocks, bonds, options, funds, and more | Yes, plus a passed SIE | $395 |
| Series 6 | Sell mutual funds, variable annuities, UITs, and 529 plans only | Yes, plus a passed SIE | $100 |
| Series 63 | State-law registration to transact business as a broker-dealer agent | No | $147 |
| Series 65 | Register as an investment adviser representative and charge fees for advice | No | $187 |
| Series 66 | The 63 and 65 combined; pairs with a Series 7 | No | $177 |
Path one: advisor at a brokerage firm
This is the wirehouse and broker-dealer route: Merrill, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, and every firm like them. You will register as a securities agent, which means FINRA exams in a specific order. First the SIE, which anyone 18 or older can take with no job and no sponsor, and which stays valid for four years. Then, once a firm hires and sponsors you, the Series 7, the big one. Then a state exam, almost always the Series 66 since you already hold the 7. Total exam fees run $672, though firms commonly pay for the exams they sponsor. If the firm sells insurance products too, fixed annuities or life policies, expect a state insurance license on top; that one runs through your state's insurance department, not FINRA.
Some bank and insurance-company advisors take a narrower version of this path: Series 6 plus Series 63 instead of 7 plus 66. That licenses funds and variable products but not individual stocks or options, which is why career changers usually aim for the 7 when given the choice.
Path two: fee-only and independent advisors
If you will charge fees for advice rather than commissions on products, working at or starting a registered investment adviser (RIA), the list collapses to one exam: the Series 65. No sponsor, no SIE prerequisite, $187, 130 questions, pass at 92 correct. You can register for it yourself on finra.org today. Many states also waive the Series 65 entirely for holders of certain credentials such as the CFP or CFA; check your state before scheduling. This single-exam path is why plenty of career changers skip the brokerage world altogether.
What about the CFP?
The CFP, CFA, and every other set of letters advisors put after their names are certifications, not licenses. They can make you better and more hireable, and in some states a CFP substitutes for the Series 65, but none of them replace the FINRA exams on the brokerage path. License first, letters later.
The one exam you can take today
Notice the asymmetry: the Series 7 requires a firm to sponsor you, but the SIE requires nobody's permission. That makes it the standard first move for students and career changers who want to walk into interviews with proof of seriousness: a passed SIE tells a hiring manager you are one sponsored exam away from producing, not two. Registering takes about 20 minutes, costs $100, and the prep, at least here, is free: create a free Passline account and start with a full diagnostic exam.
Common questions, quickly
Do all financial advisors need the Series 7? No. Only those selling securities for commissions at a FINRA-member firm. Fee-only advisors operate on the Series 65.
Can I get licensed without a finance degree? Yes. No securities exam requires any degree, and the SIE-then-7 ladder is how most non-finance majors enter.
How long does licensing take? The SIE is typically a two-to-six-week study project. Firms usually give new hires a few months to clear the 7 and 66, and study time is often on the clock.
The bottom line
Two or three exams stand between you and being a licensed advisor: SIE, 7, and 66 on the brokerage path, or the 65 alone on the fee-only path. The fees are fixed, the order is fixed, and the only step you can start without anyone hiring you first is the SIE. Start there.