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Do not schedule your Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam until you know everything on my study guide. I failed 10 practice exams before I knew 100% of it.

The Securities Industry Essentials exam formulas, in plain English

The five that actually show up, each with a worked example.

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I'm Jason Meinzer, a real person. I studied 150+ hours, took 12+ practice exams (900 questions), and passed the SIE. I made this study guide by hand. It is not AI slop.

SIE Study GuideJason Meinzer, one page

Reports

Rights

Voting

Systematic risk

Reinvestment risk

Bond yield

Bond price

Bond ratings

Settlement

Market caps

Dividends (DERP)

Margin

Made by handNot AI slop About 100 conceptsEach one explained

The 3 steps

Do them in this order. Step 2 is the gate.

  1. 1

    Study 100+ hours with a prep course.

    No shortcut. Any of these works if you finish it. I used Achievable.

  2. 2

    The gate: get the sheet.

    Can't explain every item on it? Don't schedule the exam.

    ↩ Back to step 1
  3. 3

    Only then book the exam.

    Fail once or twice, you lose the $100 booking fee each time and wait a month to retake it. Fail 3 times, you wait 180 days.

1. Current yield

Current yield = yearly interest ÷ what the bond costs today.

A bond pays 6% on $1,000 face, so $60 a year. It's trading at $1,200. $60 ÷ $1,200 = 5%.

The big idea: when a bond's price goes up, its yield goes down. They always move in opposite directions.

2. Bond price from a quote

Quotes are a percent of $1,000 face value.

A quote of 97¾ means 97.75% × $1,000 = $977.50. Each full point is $10.

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3. Price-to-earnings (P/E)

P/E = share price ÷ earnings per share.

Stock at $45, earning $3 a share. $45 ÷ $3 = 15. Investors pay $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

4. Margin (Reg T)

To buy on margin, you put up 50% of the purchase.

Buy $20,000 of stock: you deposit $10,000 and borrow the rest from the firm. The firm then wants you to keep at least 25% equity in a long account.

5. Mutual fund sales charge

Sales charge % = (offer price − net asset value (NAV)) ÷ offer price.

Offer price $20, NAV $19. $1 ÷ $20 = 5%. The charge is figured on the offer price, not the NAV. That trips people up.

Want every formula and rule on one page? That's what my study guide is. It's what I reviewed right before I passed.

Questions people ask

Is there a lot of math on the SIE?

Not much. A handful of questions need simple arithmetic. No calculator tricks, just knowing which numbers go where.

Do I get a calculator?

Yes. The test center provides one on screen.

Which formula shows up most?

In my experience, bond yields and prices. Know which way price moves when rates change.

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