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Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

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Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#261

Post by buck4roo »

seibelj wrote: post #258
civilized wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The exams have two ultimate objectives: 1. Perpetuate the actuarial guild 2. Shovel money from aspiring actuaries and insurance companies into the SOA's coffers They aren't really, and aren't really meant to be, a marker of general, transferable intellectual skills or achievement outside the insurance industry. So it's not surprising that no one other than the parties involved (the SOA, aspiring actuaries, and insura…

This is the same model of all licenses, which is inherited from the guild system common throughout all of human history (the government (monarchs, oligarchies, democracies) protect favored industries from competition). I put them on a spectrum: - Licenses that anyone can obtain by showing the requisite skills. This is the least nefarious, and the clearest example would be driver's licenses. In a perfect world anyone…

Nominate parent for best of HN2021 award

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#262

Post by nerdponx »

civilized wrote: post #173
xeRTRex wrote: post #118

One of the most frustrating aspects of the process is that once outside of insurance/insurance-adjacent industries, the credentials are useless. I have my FSA (fellowship of the SOA) and CERA (chartered enterprise risk analyst) from the SOA. I no longer wanted to work in insurance and left for data science. I felt the need to obtain a graduate degree to feel qualified enough for the data science space. My Master's de…

The exams have two ultimate objectives: 1. Perpetuate the actuarial guild 2. Shovel money from aspiring actuaries and insurance companies into the SOA's coffers They aren't really, and aren't really meant to be, a marker of general, transferable intellectual skills or achievement outside the insurance industry. So it's not surprising that no one other than the parties involved (the SOA, aspiring actuaries, and insura…

But are they not actually markers of transferable skills? I have worked in insurance, but not as an actuary, and my impression was that actuaries generally do have skills that are broadly useful in data science. Why shouldn't the actuarial exams count for something on other job applications?

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#264

Post by lelanthran »

SilasX wrote: post #252
gruez wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It’s not really working if and when once side is incentivized not to pay when they can and are obviously at fault. This seems to be based on the "making all parties whole" interpretation of insurance, rather than "protect the policyholder". Are you ignoring my prior comment entirely? Are you trying to argue that insurance companies ought to have a "making all parties whole" imperative rather than a "protect the poli…

> This seems to be based on the "making all parties whole" interpretation of insurance, rather than "protect the policyholder". Are you ignoring my prior comment entirely? No, you’re ignoring the three comments I’ve made now that clearly indicated I was talking about “the structuring of the insurance system” (rather than the OP’s liability policy), and continuing to argue against something you should be aware I’m not…

> And yes, making victims whole is the purpose of mandating liability coverage for drivers.

Yes, agreed, but you aren't a victim until a court issues a judgement that you are, hence the other parties insurance has no reason nor obligation to make you whole.

A dispute is just a dispute until a court rules on it. Statements made by LEOs and witnesses are only examined when it is presented before a court. If you don't present your argument before a court, you are not automatically in the right.

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#265

Post by nerdponx »

opensandwich wrote: post #159

Another actuary checking in from Institute of Actuaries Australia - I'm a "qualified" actuary (associate level) who decided to not even try for the fellowship exams and instead change course completely and do a PhD in Machine Learning. No one outside of the actuarial industry cares or really knows what it means to be an actuary. Having an actuarial background in non-traditional actuarial areas is almost more of a cur…

Out of curiosity, what do you think industry could/should be doing with actuaries that it currently isn't? Other than just recognizing their credentials as a signal of a strong data scientist.

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#266

Post by pfortuny »

aqualinux wrote: post #166
xeRTRex wrote: post #118

One of the most frustrating aspects of the process is that once outside of insurance/insurance-adjacent industries, the credentials are useless. I have my FSA (fellowship of the SOA) and CERA (chartered enterprise risk analyst) from the SOA. I no longer wanted to work in insurance and left for data science. I felt the need to obtain a graduate degree to feel qualified enough for the data science space. My Master's de…

Qualified actuary here also from UK. You're right about insurance being a legacy industry. In terms of the exams, if you can pass A-level maths, you can pass the actuarial exams. I found the main reason they were considered hard is not because of the subject matter, but due to the amount of content that had to be learned in a short space of time.

The fact that its day-to-day application it is “legacy” is probably a good thing, as reinforced concrete is already “legacy” in tha sense or stailess steel.

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#267

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

meztez wrote: post #225

For anyone who thinks about doing these, here are a few tips for the advanced CAS exams. - Time is your enemy. - Use memorization techniques, like a memory palace. - Grader are looking for key words, be succinct. - If you do not know, skip. Your brain will figure it out while you work other questions. - Create your own study material from the syllabus. Anything that is remotely mathematical will be tested at some poi…

> - Time is your enemy.

Thank you, this explains it. Because as others pointed out, the provided examples should be solvable with anyone with solid basic knowledge of stochastic.

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#268

Post by lotsofpulp »

mleonhard wrote: post #233
civilized wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, insurance just doesn't have much interesting space for innovation. In life insurance, for example, products other than simple term insurance really shouldn't exist. They're mostly just Rube Goldberg tax sheltered savings accounts for the wealthy. In theory there ought to be some opportunity in the area of incentivizing people to improve their health behaviors. But carriers have been much slower to move on that…

I tried to buy decreasing term life insurance, where the benefit decreases continuously over 20 years, matching the needs of my family. I consulted with several agents and none of them could sell it to me. The best they could do was to divide the term into three time periods with different benefit amounts. One agent told me that most customers drop their policy after a few years. The companies earn most of their inco…

I applied for term life insurance at 3 or 4 life insurance companies, and they all allowed you to reduce the benefit amount a few times over the term.

Not every year, but they said it was no problem if you wanted to halve the benefit halfway through or even a second time after that (and they would lower the premiums commensurately of course).

I have Principal and Protective in the US.

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#269

Post by duckmysick »

hermannj314 wrote: post #77
duckmysick wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Health insurance is a pretty terrible product. What's the alternative?

Health insurance is a terrible product because it is usually not insurance at all. If you are an alcoholic with a history of OWI/DUIs and you have a pre-existing car accident and no job, no one expects you to get free car insurance paid for by the government that will fix your already damaged car and make sure you can drive again as a human right. In Healthcare, we assume that product should exist and we demand that…

I believe you're arguing semantics. If we're being strict about the definition of insurance, we should also be strict about "free healthcare". There's no such thing. Somebody has to pay for it. If it's the government, they do so using money collected from their citizens. You can call it premium, tax, payment - it doesn't matter. At its core it's a system of distributing risk - which is insurance.

In my mind, the alternative to health insurance is paying market rates out of your pocket for everything. It's not a good idea and that's why most of the countries have universal health insurance coverage.

Re: Want to be an actuary? Odds are, you’ll fail the test

#270

Post by duckmysick »

aspenmayer wrote: post #78
duckmysick wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Health insurance is a pretty terrible product. What's the alternative?

A single payer system? Or a hybrid system with Medicare for all with income limits, above which you must either get third party insurance or pay a small tax is how it was done in Australia last time I was there. It seemed to work well when I was there, and I did have need of it. I had to go to the ER when I was peeing blood after being kicked by a horse directly in the kidney. Fortunately there were no blood clots an…

Right. Which is still called insurance.

Medicare in Australia: https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/medicare

> Medicare is Australia’s universal health insurance scheme. It guarantees all Australians (and some overseas visitors) access to a wide range of health and hospital services at low or no cost.

Medicare in Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-healt...

> Medicare is a term that refers to Canada's publicly funded health care system. Instead of having a single national plan, we have 13 provincial and territorial health care insurance plans. Under this system, all Canadian residents have reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services without paying out-of-pocket.

Hope you're feeling better now. That kidney kick must have been hell of a painful one.

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