Actuarial Math Puns

I'm considering studying either actuarial maths or accounting and finance. Has anyone here studied either of the courses in college and can tell me what they're like? I've been looking at the actuarial maths courses in DCU and UCD, and tbh I don't know which one I'd choose. What's slightly putting me off from this is the amount of exams even after college I'd have to complete. I'm also interested in the accounting and finance course in DCU, but I'm hearing mixed opinions about the career. Either the pay is horrible or amazing and I don't know which to believe.

Hello I’m looking for maybe some advice or info, Here’s the tea I’m a Junior Math Major w a CS certificate I have an internship lined up for this summer (grateful for it but means cannot explore CS this summer) I haven’t really been feeling the actuarial vibe and really enjoyed CS and looking to brush up my skills outside of college as of late I’d like to dip my toes into the world of CS jobs but to be honest I never really leaned into my certificate so don’t have any connections

Hi, I am currently in second year at University studying Actuarial Science. I don't know 100% what I want to do when I'm older, however I have an interest in math/stats and physics. I just wanted to ask weather it would be better for me to transfer into a general math and stats program as opposed to staying in Actuarial science. I do have an interest in becoming an actuary however I have been considering potentially getting my Masters and pairing that with a Physics minor which would open more opportunities for me. Can someone help me with this? Thanks. Actuarial Science or Math and Stats

Any comments on Martin Molloy for people that are taking him for math 3618, or had ever taken a class with him ???

I know I don’t necessarily NEED one, but am I going to realistically get hired easily without one? I know I need the actuarial exams, but my girlfriend is claiming that it will be hard to get an actuarial position without a masters because she thinks it’s a pretty competitive field.

an investment fund accumulates with a force of interest equal to 1/(t+10). if the fund earned $56 in 4 years, what was the total value of the investment at the end of 6 years?

(a) 952 (B) 896 (C) 840 (D) 913

Can anyone help please?

I’ve been asked to speak to (mostly first year) potential math majors about actuarial careers. About half the talk should be about “examples of how you use math in your field.”

For context, I’m in P&C pricing, currently studying for MAS-II. I’m curious what some more-experienced actuaries would choose to present, while keeping it understandable to first year college students? I could present some basic exam material, but I don’t want to give a false impression that actuaries are solving math problems all day.

Any input is appreciated!

• Short revision & mortality profit & recursive formula for reserves
• Joint life functions, assurances and annuities
• Last survivor functions, assurances and annuities
• Contingent assurances & reversionary annuities
• Multiple state models
• Multiple decrement models
• Profit testing for conventional policies
• Profit testing for unit-linked policies

Like a lot of maths grads, I am choosing between a data science job / quant / actuary. I'm leaning strongly towards actuarial for the job security, work life balance and clear progression path, but I like the technical aspect of the other jobs. I'm wondering which subfield of actuarial (GI, Pensions, Life etc) has the most maths and computing in your opinions? And does it depend on any other factors?

I'm in the UK but I'd be interested in everyone's opinion.

I'm a pure math transfer, my original plan was to just optimize for grad school, but for the sake of practicality I'm looking into the steps it takes to become an actuary if grad school doesn't pan out or is delayed. There doesn't seem to be any reason not to optimize for both - take 100ABC and 140ABC and choose math electives related to the field for the rest, while learning or brushing up on programming languages relevant to both. My question is, which classes would you recommend and how often are they offered? I don't see either actuarial class offered this quarter. I know 180A is important, but what about 180B, C, other sequences to consider, etc.?

Right now a hesitant plan would be to take Exam P summer 2022 and Exam FM Summer 2023. Thanks!

It's an Actuarial Math (Contingencies) exam

Please comment and add me on Discord if interested: rhubarb # 6517

So I’m not actually a student yet but my plan is to go into math stats and then focus on afm. Besides becoming an actuary and taking all the exams did afm also open the door to other jobs like a cfa or prm?

Question for the upper years/alumni of this channel.

How do you find the Actuarial Science, Math or a related major at UPEI? And how's the opportunity of getting into a grad school in those fields?

I'm a first-year cs student and I'm just worried about being rejected by grad school since upei is a small university.

I’m an incoming sophomore planning on majoring in actuarial science and Econ and I’m registered for actuarial math 1 and applied probability for actuaries. In general how hard are these classes and what should I expect. I’ve taken calc 1 and 2 so would I be able to survive taking these 2 next semester ? For people who have taken this how many hours do you guys put into the class. Much help would be appreciated I can’t find much about these classes on rate my proffesor. I’m aiming for the December sitting for fm would this be doable in 4 months ?

I'm in my second year of college and I'm currently an actuarial science major. I'm kind of half debating switching to being a math major on the financial track because at this point, I have about 6 classes left in the major in both actsci and math so I wouldn't be making a huge sacrifice in switching.

I'm just wondering if there would be a point to switching? Because I'm pretty sure I want to be an actuary so whoever major I stay in, I'll be an actuary in the end, so I'm not really concerned about the broader job options thing. (edit: by broader job options, I mean like straight out of undergrad)

Most of the classes I have left in actsci are test prep classes for LTAM/MAS1 and STAM/MAS 2 whereas in the math major, I'd be taking differential equations and a proofs class, among other things. Like, would switching to the math major give me a better basis for learning future material or should I just stick with taking the test prep classes?

Hey r/mcmaster!

I'm doing an AMA for the next 2 weeks for those interested in Math and Stats at McMaster and/or the Actuarial and Financial Math (AFM) program. Ask me anything you'd like, such as admissions, courses, experiences (online vs. on-campus), supplementary application, etc. I've also recently taken these courses which I will review at the end of this April (like last year) along with my second semester courses:

MATH 2X03 - Fletcher Gates (Spring)

STATS 2D03 - George Dragomir (Spring)

MATH 2LA3 - Bradd Hart (Fall)

MATH 2FM3 - Mehdi Salimi (Fall)

COMMERCE 2FA3 - Waquar Ahmad (Fall)

ECON 2H03 - Anastasios Papanastasiou (Fall)

If you have any questions regarding these courses (difficulty, professors, grading, shifting to online), or anything at all, please ask!

Also, since this isn't my main browsing account, I've turned on email notifications so I will (hopefully) respond much quicker than last time.

I’m currently enrolled for a dual degree of Adv Math/ CompSci and I’m currently on the fence about possibly switching up to actuarial. On the surface, it seems both lead into similar careers however actuarial carries more business and industry knowledge. Neither of the deeper mathematical concepts are jumping out to me right now, but I do enjoy math and did quite well in the HSC so I feel this is the way I should be going. Can anyone speak to anything that would lean one towards either option, like which is better suited for personal interests and work styles?

Also, for someone interesting in pursuing a career as maybe a data scientist or a quant, would it be most beneficial to study combined actuarial studies (and if so, what is the best dual degree from economics, maths, compsci..) or to study economics/computer science or compsci and math?

I'm exploring career options and looked at a sample actuarial exam. The first question confused the hell out of me.

>At an annual effective interest rate of i, i>0%, the present value of a perpetuity paying 10 at the end of each 3-year period, with the first payment at the end of year 3, is 32.

>At the same annual effective rate of i, the present value of a perpetuity paying 1 at the end of every 4-month period, with the first payment at the end of 4 months, is X.

>Calculate X.

>a) 31.6

>b) 32.6

>c) 33.6

>d) 34.6

>e) 35.6

I thought this would be easy. Assuming that nine years have passed, then i=6.67%. But that makes the base value of the second perpetuity 27, and with interest, it's only 28.8.

And as it turns out, even if you changed the length of time from 9 to 6 to 3 years, you still get 28.8 on the second perpetuity every time. Maybe I don't know the definitions of "annual effective interest" well enough to answer the question? Can anyone shed some light on what's going on here?

How restricted are you with an actuarial science degree, as to me options are really important. I would like to know that I can get the same jobs with the actuarial degree as the maths degree with the same amount of effort. I know going from a maths degree to an actuary is a pain because you don't get exemptions from some exams, but what about the other way, actuarial science degree into a maths based job. I'm still not completely sure if I want to be an actuary(but that salary is really tempting) so I really want options for later in life. Thanks so much for help or advice.

Hey guys,

I just wanted to hear some opinions on whether it's possible to get through the first year maths courses for actuarial studies with a decent grade without having done extension 1 or 2 maths. I've heard the degree can be very hard even for extension 2 students, but it would be nice to have a little bit of clarity from some current students. For context, I did IB maths SL (if you know what that is) and I've always been pretty good at maths.

Thanks and merry christmas!

Hey friends, I’m an undergrad, actuarial studies major. Just completed my 2nd year, looking for a non-math breadth(2nd or 3rd yr sub) to do this summer. Used up first yr breadth slots doing calc2, lin alg and foundations of comp. Preferably something that would be useful career-wise say banking/insurance/finance fields in the future. Any other recommendations/advice is much appreciated too. Much love.

Out of high school/college I had no idea what I wanted to do. As a result I have a multidisciplinary certificate (30cr.), will soon complete a computer science certificate (I like CS but wouldn't want to program fulltime), and need another certificate to graduate with a multidisciplinary degree. I feel pretty down on myself for taking 5 years to get a degree that's useless in itself, thinking of years' salary lost and such, but mistakes were made and I'm still only 23.

During this time I've learnt things about myself around working. I have an analytical mind, I like problem solving when it's concrete, I like humanities and communication, but math and CS are what I feel most comfortable studying. Also, I need to know that what I'm studying will eventually provide financial security. Do you think I could be a good fit for the profession? What other questions should I consider?

My last question is, what math topics should I concentrate on to best prepare for the Actuarial Science BSc I want to take once I have my multidisciplinary baccalaureate?

I just turned 29 and decided to get a career change into Actuarial Science. I had degrees in Econ and Computer Security and my work experience isn’t related anything to Maths or Actuarial Science. My girlfriend is half way through to become an actuary and encourage me to pursue the same profession. I’m really interested and would like to study however going through the ACTEX manual, I found it a bit overwhelmed (even with Section 0) considering the last time I studied Maths was back in high school. My girlfriend keep telling me I can do it, just buy the video instructor Adapt+Learn from Coaching Actuaries and spend time studying then it would be fine. However I’m not very confident and wondering if Coaching Actuaries provide enough help to teach me through Calculus and Probability. Should I give it a shot? Any helps would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I'm 29, currently working as an underwriter (not insurance) looking to change my career path. I'm planning on taking Exam FM as my first. I decided to go thru some books and get my self warmed up and familiar before investing in ADAPT. Anyway I was kinda demotivated when I saw the amount of syllabus and reading I have to do. Anyone else feel this way when they stated, esp someone who changed career path from something else?

I have a math degree, but to tbh I forgot most of what I learned. Kinda makes me sad now that I think of it cause I remember getting A's in my calc series and enjoyed studying algebra in my final year and doing a year long project on fractals. And I guess in a way I forgot how to study too if you get what I'm saying...since I really havent studied anything this rigorous since univ. Now I really enjoy the math of it, I studied a few chapters in interest theory and worked out all the problems so far but I'm just feeling a little bit insecure as to if I will remember everything, from every topic. It's like taking a finals without midterms in univ. I guess one way is to look at is to accomplish day to day goals as opposed to being worried about the exam day already...but curious how some of yall handled this.

I'm in year 12 right now, and right now i'm deciding between electrical engineering and actuarial studies.

I really enjoy maths, but I am still uncertain about the types of maths learnt/used in each of these courses, and I'm not really sure if I'll enjoy the maths I learn within these courses. I know that Engineering is mostly physics and calculus, and that Actuarial is statistics, I found statistics in high school pretty basic and boring but I heard that uni stats is completely different to high school.

How would you describe the maths learnt in these courses? What are the interesting and boring aspects of the content? How do they compare with each other? (In terms of difficulty and enjoyableness)

I'm not sure what kind of assignments I'll be working on, and how powerful my laptop needs to be. I need a laptop around 1k. I'll be taking the bus every day so I don't want something super bulky. Will 16gb of RAM and an i7 without deticated graphics be good enough? I'll take any suggestions TY!

Hi! Is it possible to take up the actuarial exams even though I am planning to take up Biology for my undergrad?

Hi,

I am in the process of deciding which colleges to transfer to from a CA community college. I have "guaranteed admission" to UC Irvine or UC Santa Barbara. My top three universities are UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Irvine.

UCSB and CSUF are UCAP-AC schools and UC Irvine is not. However, UCI does have an Actuarial Society and finance club.

My major is either Econ or Math depending on which college I decide to go for. I have almost all the classes required to transfer for both majors.

The thing is... UCSB prides itself on an Actuarial Science degree (which I am opposed to) and doesn't seem to have much other than that. I don't think their Econ major is as actuarial-focused as UCI's majors or CSUF's major. Basically, actuarial science major or Econ major that doesn't go as far into actuarial science as UCI or CSUF. I have kinda thrown it out of my list because of this. What do you guys think about that?

For UCI, the major I'm looking into is Math with a finance concentration that includes actuarial science and corporate finance. Seems really good.

The CSUF major is math with an actuarial science concentration. Very thoroughly goes over all the actuarial classes and sets me up for exams, hence the UCAP-AC designation.

Which school is the best choice? My reservations with CSUF are that they are not pretigious or as highly rated as the UCs. UCI seems like a great option, but is the MISSING UCAP-AC designation really important or can I just major in Math with an actuarial science concentration there?

Hey everyone,

I'm really keen on entering the financial sector and I enjoy both mathematics and English. But my school forced me to choose between extension English or Math, and I went with English because I thought I wouldn't be interested in something like actuarial studies (at the time)... and now I am unsure as to whether actuarial studies is for me. I'm doing only advanced math... is actuarial a stretch? Should I stick to something like finance?

I am asking this because at my university(and I'm pretty sure it could be the same for others as well), the degree falls under the math and statistics department. In order to get the actuarial science degree, you have to take a combination of both pure and applied math classes, then taking elective classes that falls within the business department. And since it's falls within the department, many of the leading advisors that fall within the department keep heavily promoting it like it's the only job you can do with a math major. And while I don't mind them promoting this, it's honestly in a way bothering me to the point I would get annoyed at this.

For reference, I've always been particularly passionate about applied math and how math is applied to many wide range of fields such as Physics, Engineering, and Statistics. And while I do find the "non-math" aspects to be pretty cool for some of the majors, in the case of Business, I'm just downright bored out of my mind when anything that relates to Economics, Accounting, Finance, or any of the other related business topics shows up in the realm of applied mathematics. And when math department promotes the degree very often, it makes me bitter in most cases considering that my passion that don't line up(I know they can't accommodate everyone's situation, but I feel like I'm the one being left out).

A buddy of mine(who got the actuarial science degree at the same university) gracefully invited me to his workplace, as I am curious how the degree leads to the job industry. And after being there for two hours, I knew immediately afterwards that this kind of work wasn't for me. I asked him how much math you are using at his workplace. The combination of his response and seeing the flow of the workplace leads a surprise to me just how minimal of applied math he was using. In was pretty boring what kind of math he was doing when he showed it to me on his computer and the workplace felt more like a business environment(I don't mean the whole sitting in a cubicle all day dressed in a professional matter, I mean doing side jobs like doing auditing and monitoring work) it really was. And those two hours solidify my theory at I was definitely not cut out for actuarial science.

After all of this, I question sometimes whether or not actuarial science should be promoted in the math department or the business department. Or have some kind of joint agreement between the two department and not out right call it a math

Hey guys, I'm majoring in actuarial studies and I am starting this year. For the maths subjects for first year, I can either choose Calculus II + Linear Algebra which is easier, or I can choose Accelerated Maths I & II instead which is much harder. The thing is, for the easier pair, I need to get a total of 150/200. But for the harder pair, it is just 120/200. Or i can choose one hard one and one easier one and get a 135/200 instead. But I think I need a WAM of like 75-80 anyway. What do you think and what would you choose in this situation?

• Short revision & mortality profit & recursive formula for reserves
• Joint life functions, assurances and annuities
• Last survivor functions, assurances and annuities
• Contingent assurances & reversionary annuities
• Multiple state models
• Multiple decrement models
• Profit testing for conventional policies
• Profit testing for unit-linked policies