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Becoming an actuary/thoughts on the actuarial profession
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Sup fellas.
I'm entering my sophomore year of college and trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. My brother is entering his senior year, and has decided to become an actuary. He has already passed the first actuarial exam and is well on his way to passing the second.
Meanwhile, I have been researching this career and I am definitely interested as well. I have always been a super-strong test taker and, like most people, want to make a shitload of money. For those who don't know, being an actuary is basically a guaranteed six figures by the time youre 30, and many consulting actuaries make 300k+/year. The unemployment rate for actuaries is ridiculously low. And unlike finance/working on wall street, being an actuary (depends what sector) is relatively unstressfull and only requires about 40 hrs/week. Most actuaries retire very early.
However, the tests are not easy. There are 10 of them and the general rule is they require 400+ hours of studying each. When combined, they are harder than the bar (but telling bitches you passed the bar is way cooler because most people don't know what an actuary is). My brother passed his first after 25 hours and I figure I can pass with similar hours of studying.
Plus, math and business have always been my strong suits.
Basically, I'm thinking about being an actuary for about 20 years or so and then retiring with a boatload of cash and becoming a ski instructor or volunteer adaptive ski instructor and skiing for the rest of my life.
Anybody here familiar with the actuarial profession? I have been lurking around actuarialoutpost.com but thats the perspective of a bunch of nerdy actuaries for the most part.
I know the majority of you are 12-15 years old but I know there's some people with developed brains on here.......
Jun 12 2013 12:05PM
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^this. I want to go into engineering because I like it. My dad is a top level engineer for Boeing and makes close to 150k a year.
Also I read through most of this thread and still don't have a fucking clue what being an actuary actually means could someone explain it for us lesser beings?
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that sounds like the most boring shit ever.
I'm sorry you're driven entirely by the possibility of making money and spending it on mainly superficial material purchases. I hope you enjoy being old and skiing when your body is on the decline.
I'll enjoy my pow now, but I'm glad you're willing to take the time to deal with predicting finance. It really is a very difficult job deserving of its high salary so good on ya for taking the challenge. I think I have more or less of a math mind, but analyzing trends in numbers and taking tests is really beyond my passions and attention span. Kudos, and have fun working away your twenties, thirties, fourties, And fifties!
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Is anyone on here currently taking exams? I have my second coming up in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone else is going through the study process.
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I am a CPA and having worked with actuaries, the profession makes accounting seem exciting. The old joke is "who is an actuary? someone who didn't have the charisma for accounting." Seeing as most accountants are some of the most boring and dull people around, you can understand the joke.
Your pay will be directly proportional to the exams that you pass. From what I understand they get progressively harder. Everyone will make it through the first two or three. To make the big bucks you need to stick through all of them, which as you seem to be aware is extremely difficult.
That being said I do like the self-employment prospects that being an actuary allows. You can spend enough time to get experience and pass your exams, then start your own business, live where you want, and work as much or as little as you want.
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