Series 6 Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: D

Yes; intrastate securities may be resold to anyone once purchased: The exemption would be lost if the securities quickly moved out of state; resale limits apply for six months.

Yes, if the brother is an accredited investor: Accredited status matters for Regulation D, not the intrastate exemption, which turns on residence.

No; resales are limited to in-state residents for nine months after the offering ends: Nine months after the offering ends is the pre-2016 version of Rule 147; the current rule is six months from the issuer's sale.

No; resales are limited to in-state residents for six months from the issuer's sale: Correct. Under Rule 147(e), for six months from the date of the issuer's sale, resales may be made only to residents of the state in which the offering was made.

Rule 147 securities can be resold only to in-state residents for six months from the issuer's sale.

Answer: D

That she is under 59½, so the IRA's tax penalties do not apply: Wrong direction: being under 59½ means early-withdrawal penalties can apply; it is a cost to disclose, not a justification.

That the annuity's tax deferral is her main reason for buying: Tax deferral adds nothing inside an IRA, so it cannot be the main benefit that supports the recommendation.

That the purchase is excluded from Rule 2330 because the IRA is a tax-qualified account: The exclusion covers certain employer-sponsored plans; an individual IRA purchase is covered by Rule 2330.

That she would benefit from features other than tax deferral, such as a death benefit: Correct. Rule 2330(b) requires a reasonable basis that the customer would benefit from the annuity's features. Because the IRA already gives tax deferral, the recommendation must rest on other features such as death or living benefits or annuitization.

A deferred VA inside an IRA adds no tax deferral, so Rule 2330 suitability must rest on its insurance features.

Answer: D

the dates of first and, if applicable, last use: Required: the record must show the dates of first and (if applicable) last use of the communication.

the approving principal's name and the approval date: Required: the record must name the registered principal who approved the communication and the date of approval.

a copy of the ranking or performance data used: Required: when a retail communication includes a fund performance ranking or comparison, the record must include a copy of the ranking or performance used.

a list of the retail investors who received it: Correct. This is the exception. Rule 2210(b)(4)(A) requires a copy of the piece, its dates of use, the approving principal and date, the source of any statistics or illustrations, and any fund ranking used; it does not require a list of recipients.

Communication records hold the piece, its dates of first and last use, the approving principal and date, the sources of statistics, and any fund ranking used, kept for the SEA Rule 17a-4(b) period.

Answer: C

File it within 10 business days after first use, like other fund ads: Post-use filing is the default for fund retail communications, but a ranking category created by the fund's underwriter triggers the pre-use filing rule.

No filing is needed because the data come from an independent Ranking Entity: Independent data satisfy Rule 2212(b), but the category itself was created by an affiliate, which is exactly what 2210(c)(2)(A) captures.

File it with FINRA at least 10 business days before first use: Correct. Rule 2212(b) lets a fund or its affiliate create a ranking if it is based on a Ranking Entity's performance measurements. But because the category is the creation of the fund's underwriter, Rule 2210(c)(2)(A) requires pre-filing at least 10 business days before use, with the supporting data.

It cannot be used, because only a Ranking Entity may create a ranking category: Rule 2212(b) expressly permits rankings created by a fund or affiliate when they rest on a Ranking Entity's performance measurements.

An affiliate-created (or not generally published) ranking category is allowed under Rule 2212 if built on Ranking Entity data, but the ad must be pre-filed 10 business days before use.

Answer: A

Reg BI applies, because an explicit recommendation to hold is a recommendation: Correct. Under Reg BI, an explicit recommendation to hold a security is a recommendation of an investment strategy and is subject to the care obligation, whether or not the firm agreed to monitor the account.

Reg BI does not apply, because no transaction took place: Reg BI covers recommendations of investment strategies, including explicit hold recommendations, even without a trade.

Reg BI applies only if the firm agreed to monitor the account: Agreed monitoring matters for implicit hold recommendations (silence); an explicit hold recommendation is covered either way.

Only Rule 2111 applies, because advice to hold falls outside Regulation BI: For a retail customer, Reg BI governs; Rule 2111 does not displace it.

An explicit "keep it" is a recommendation under Reg BI; silence counts only when the firm has agreed to monitor.

Answer: D

A second 60-day rollover, since the limit applies to each IRA separately: Since 2015 the limit is aggregated across all of a taxpayer's IRAs; a second 60-day rollover within 12 months would be a taxable distribution.

Waiting until March 2027, since any IRA movement is limited to one per year: Too restrictive: the limit applies only to 60-day rollovers, not to direct transfers.

A 60-day rollover with 20% withheld for federal taxes: Withholding does not cure the once-per-12-months problem, and mandatory 20% withholding applies to employer-plan distributions, not IRAs.

A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer to the new custodian: Correct. The one-rollover-per-12-months limit applies to 60-day IRA-to-IRA rollovers across all of a person's IRAs combined. Direct trustee-to-trustee transfers are not rollovers and are not limited, so a transfer avoids the problem.

One 60-day IRA-to-IRA rollover per 12 months across all IRAs; trustee-to-trustee transfers are unlimited.

Answer: D

Liquidate the shares automatically and transfer the cash to Quillon: Wrong. Liquidation is one choice the customer may make; the firm cannot sell his shares without his instructions.

Send the shares to Quillon anyway, since ACATS covers all fund shares: Wrong. Quillon has said it cannot carry the fund; that is why the rule requires the customer's instructions.

Reject the whole transfer until he redeems the proprietary fund: Wrong. The transferable assets move on the normal ACATS timetable; only the nontransferable fund needs separate instructions.

List the nontransferable fund and request his written disposition instructions: Correct. For proprietary products the receiving firm cannot hold, Rule 11870 requires the carrying member to list the specific assets and get the customer's written instructions. He can choose liquidation, retention at Penrose, or transfer of the shares directly into his name.

Under Rule 11870, nontransferable proprietary products stay out of the ACATS transfer until the customer chooses: liquidate, keep at the old firm, or transfer into his own name.

Answer: A

Ms. Tremblay keeps control and may switch to a member of Wyatt's family tax-free: Correct. The account owner, not the beneficiary, controls a 529 plan. She can keep the account or change the beneficiary, without tax, to another member of Wyatt's family (for example a sibling or first cousin), as Section 529 requires.

Wyatt controls the account now that he has reached the age of majority: Wrong. That is the rule for UTMA/UGMA custodial accounts. A 529 beneficiary never gains control by reaching majority.

Ms. Tremblay may name any new beneficiary, such as a family friend, tax-free: Wrong. The owner may change the beneficiary, but the change is tax-free only if the new beneficiary is a member of the current beneficiary's family; a friend is not.

The plan must pay the account to Wyatt, and its earnings then become taxable to him: Wrong. A 529 plan does not have to pay the beneficiary. Only the owner decides whether to take a withdrawal.

In a 529 plan the owner controls the money and can change the beneficiary tax-free only to a member of the beneficiary's family; the beneficiary has no right to demand the money.

Answer: C

1. Rule: non-qualified VA withdrawals before annuitization are earnings first (LIFO), taxed as ordinary income.
2. Earnings available: $85,000 − $60,000 = $25,000.
3. Taxable: the $30,000 withdrawal exhausts all $25,000 of earnings; $5,000 is basis.
4. Penalty: she is under 59½, so 10% × $25,000 = $2,500.

$8,824 ordinary income; $882 penalty: Wrong. This prorates the withdrawal like an exclusion ratio. That method applies to annuitized payments, not to withdrawals during the accumulation phase.

$25,000 ordinary income; no penalty: Wrong. She is under 59½ and none of the exceptions (death or disability) applies, so the 10% penalty is owed on the taxable portion.

$25,000 ordinary income; $2,500 penalty: Correct. Withdrawals from a non-qualified annuity come out earnings first (LIFO). All $25,000 of earnings ($85,000 − $60,000) is taxed as ordinary income, and because she is 54 the 10% penalty applies to it: $2,500. The remaining $5,000 is a tax-free return of her basis.

$30,000 ordinary income; $3,000 penalty: Wrong. This taxes the whole withdrawal. Only the $25,000 of earnings is taxable; the other $5,000 is her after-tax cost basis coming back.

Non-qualified VA withdrawals: earnings come out first as ordinary income, plus a 10% penalty on that amount before 59½; basis comes out last, tax-free.

Answer: A

It is a taxable sale of the growth fund shares, so she recognizes a $3,000 gain now: Correct. The exchange privilege waives a new sales charge, but for tax purposes the exchange is a sale of one fund and a purchase of another. She realizes the $3,000 gain this year.

No tax is due, because exchanges within one fund family are tax-free: Wrong. This confuses the sales-charge benefit with a tax benefit. Tax-free exchanges exist for annuities (Section 1035), not for mutual funds in a taxable account.

Tax is deferred until she later sells the bond fund shares: Wrong. There is no carryover of basis between funds; the gain is realized at the exchange.

Tax is due only if she makes more than one exchange in 12 months: Wrong. That borrows the one-rollover-per-12-months IRA rule; every taxable exchange is a realization event.

A fund-family exchange avoids a new load but is a taxable sale and purchase; only 1035 exchanges of insurance products are tax-free.

Answer: C

1. Formula: POP = NAV ÷ (1 − sales charge %).
2. Breakpoint: $60,000 falls in the $50,000–$99,999 tier, so the sales charge is 4.50%.
3. Substitute: $19.10 ÷ (1 − 0.045) = $19.10 ÷ 0.955.
4. Result: POP = $20.00 per share.

$18.24: Wrong. This subtracts 4.50% from the NAV ($19.10 × 0.955), treating the sales charge as a discount instead of an amount added on top of NAV.

$19.96: Wrong. This multiplies NAV by (1 + 4.50%). The sales charge is a percentage of the offering price, so NAV must be divided by (1 − 4.50%).

$20.00: Correct. A $60,000 purchase falls in the $50,000–$99,999 breakpoint, so the charge is 4.50% of the offering price: POP = NAV ÷ (1 − SC%) = $19.10 ÷ 0.955 = $20.00.

$20.27: Wrong. This uses the 5.75% first-tier rate ($19.10 ÷ 0.9425). Her $60,000 purchase qualifies for the 4.50% breakpoint.

Find the breakpoint tier first, then compute POP = NAV ÷ (1 − SC%); the sales charge is a percentage of the offering price, not of NAV.

Answer: D

1. Net short-term: $6,000 − $9,000 = −$3,000.
2. Net long-term: $10,000 − $2,000 = +$8,000.
3. Net across categories: $8,000 − $3,000 = $5,000, a net long-term capital gain.

A $3,000 short-term loss and an $8,000 long-term gain, reported separately: This stops after netting within each category; opposite results in the two categories are then netted against each other.

A $5,000 net short-term capital gain: The net is $5,000, but its character comes from the larger long-term side, so it is long-term.

An $8,000 long-term gain, with a $3,000 loss carryforward: A loss carryforward arises only when there is a net capital loss overall; here the short-term loss is used against the long-term gain.

A $5,000 net long-term capital gain: Correct. Net short-term = $6,000 − $9,000 = −$3,000; net long-term = $10,000 − $2,000 = +$8,000. The $3,000 net short-term loss offsets the long-term gain, leaving a $5,000 net long-term capital gain.

Net within short-term and long-term first, then net the two; the larger side sets the character.

Answer: A

The yearly inflation adjustments to principal are taxable when made: Correct. Increases in TIPS principal from CPI adjustments are taxable federal income in the year they occur, even though the added principal is not paid until maturity.

The coupon rate rises with inflation while the principal stays fixed: Reversed: the principal adjusts with the CPI, and the fixed coupon rate is applied to the adjusted principal.

Interest is exempt from federal tax but taxable by her state: Reversed: Treasury interest is federally taxable and exempt from state and local income tax.

After deflation she may get less than original principal at maturity: At maturity TIPS pay the greater of the adjusted principal or the original principal, so deflation cannot cut repayment below par.

TIPS: CPI-adjusted principal (with a par floor at maturity), fixed rate on adjusted principal, and annual tax on the adjustments.

Answer: B

1. Rule: redemptions are paid at NAV; the offering price applies to purchases.
2. Price: Tiverton Growth Fund A NAV = $12.40.
3. Proceeds = 600 × $12.40.
4. Result: $7,440.

$7,020: Wrong. This deducts the $0.70 sales charge again from NAV. A Class A load is paid on purchase, not on redemption.

$7,440: Correct. Redemptions are paid at NAV (the bid side of a fund quote): 600 × $12.40 = $7,440.

$7,650: Wrong. This uses the midpoint of NAV and offering price ($12.75); fund redemptions are priced at NAV.

$7,860: Wrong. This uses the $13.10 offering price, which is what a buyer pays.

In a fund quotation, NAV is the bid (what a seller receives) and the offering price is the ask (what a buyer pays).