During my time studying, I've been able to gather from others via word-of-mouth that Becker and Yaeger are both good for AUD/BEC/FAR, but for Becker is severely deficient for REG. I passed the first three with Becker on the first try, but failed REG with Becker. I then tried Yaeger, failed again. Then did a hybrid approach of 80% Becker, 20% Yaeger, and I just passed.
Personally, I don't feel confident that I'm ever going to remember anything that I've learned while studying. I took FAR about about 15 months ago, and if you were to ask me anything about it, I wouldn't know - I probably couldn't even tell you many of the topics off the top of my head. If I took FAR tomorrow, I would probably get a 40. When studying for REG the second time with Yaeger, even after watching all of the lectures, I still don't feel that I absorbed the information even though they "teach" it. I don't think I can ever learn this information, I just need to review multiple times, memorize, do the MC a hundred times, and bang it in my head just long enough to get me through the exam. I'll forget it all the next day.
Everyone's different, but the organization that Becker has really helped me. The Wiley book that Yaeger uses is impossible to follow, even the headings do not stand out. When it comes time to review, I just get lost in the Wiley book. It doesn't lay out the different areas as clearly as Becker, so I can't just pick up the book and see a topic and say "oh wow I don't really feel confident about this topic, let me review this section." Some topics in Becker that are bolded and separated are simply just a few bullet points in a whole page of bullet points in Wiley. Very easy to get lost.
For REG, I followed Becker's book, but then supplemented it with Wiley for some areas that weren't explained that well, like estate tax, 1245 assets, some partnership stuff. I did the problems from both study programs.
My point is, the organization with Becker really helped me make sure that I knew every topic. It allowed me to pinpoint topics that I was unfamiliar with, so I was able to go into the test feeling confident that I studied everything.
As with all advice, take this with a grain of salt. It was my third time studying for REG, even though each time the material still somehow felt brand new.
