United States
Hong KongWhat a good question looks like
A good question presents facts requiring judgment rather than recall, offers more than one defensible option, and explains why the near-miss loses on those specific facts.
Three tests, and most practice questions sold for this exam fail at least one.
Test one: is there a client?
The exam gives you facts about a person and asks what should happen. A question asking what a term means is testing something the paper largely does not. A client, not a definition.
Definitional items have a place early in preparation. They should not dominate a bank you are using in week 12.
Test two: is more than one option defensible?
Real questions offer choices that are all plausible planning actions, where one is best given the facts stated.
If two of four options can be dismissed without reading the fact pattern, the question is testing elimination rather than planning judgment. You will score well on it and learn nothing transferable.
Test three: does the explanation argue against the near-miss?
The most useful sentence in any CFP explanation is the one beginning "B is wrong here because". Not wrong in general, wrong on these facts. Write the missing sentence yourself.
That sentence is what separates a bank that improves your judgment from one that confirms your knowledge.
Two further checks
- Which tax year is it written to? Figures index annually and a stale one teaches a wrong answer with confidence
- Does it sit in a case set? Cases run several questions off one fact pattern, and practicing them singly loses the part where later questions depend on earlier judgment
What to do with a mediocre set
Answer it, then write your own one-line reason the wrong option was tempting. You are supplying the missing half yourself, and the act of writing it is most of the value the explanation would have given you. Not in general. On these facts.
Common questions
What makes a good CFP practice question?
A client fact pattern, more than one defensible option, and an explanation that says why the near-miss loses on those facts.
Are definitional questions useless?
They have a place early on. They should not dominate a bank you are using late in preparation.
What is wrong with obviously wrong options?
They test elimination rather than judgment, and inflate your score.
What else should I check?
The tax year it is written to, and whether questions come in case sets.
How do I use a weak question set?
Write your own one-line reason each wrong option was tempting. That supplies the missing half.