For people who took one of the more recent sittings for the ERM exam (both passed and failed)how deep of an understanding did you have of the material?

For the quantitative information, did you have an in depth understanding of all the material, like copulas, MDAs, all that stuff, or just a basic understanding and a lot of the more in depth stuff was given to you on the exam.

For the qualitative information, did you memorize all the lists or just have a good general understanding of all the info, and how prepared did you feel while you were taking the Exam?

I feel like it would take almost an unrealistic amount of time to have a deep understanding of all of this information.

I took an extended break and worked in another field for a while, but now I’m ready to complete my ASA. My transcript shows that I have credit for old FAP modules 1 to 4, even though I didn’t complete all of them and they expired a while back.

I’ve read online that old FAP modules 1, 2, and 4 are considered equivalent to the pre-actuarial foundation (PAF) and actuarial science foundation (ASF) modules. Could someone please clarify if this means I can simply register for the new FAP and skip the PAF and ASF modules? At this point, I mainly need to complete FAP, PA, and APC to earn my ASA.

Thanks in advance for any help or clarification!

Hey everyone,

I’m an engineer with no direct background in actuarial science, but I want to analyze the stability of Germany’s private (PKV) and public (GKV) health insurance systems. Specifically, I’m curious about how they hold up under demographic changes and, to a lesser extent, political risk (though I know that’s harder to quantify).

To make an informed comparison, I want to:

1. Understand the fundamentals of actuarial science (I’m dedicating ~50 hours to self-study).
2. Get insights from actuaries on which system is more financially stable in the long run.

From what I gather:

• GKV (Public) operates on a pay-as-you-go model, heavily dependent on demographics and workforce participation. An aging population and declining birth rates could put strain on this system.
• PKV (Private) is funded through risk-based premiums, individual reserves, and capital investments. It’s less reliant on demographics but could be affected by rising healthcare costs, aging policyholders, and regulatory changes.

Would love any pointers on:

• Which system is actuarially more stable over decades?
• Any recommended books, papers, or online resources to help me get up to speed on actuarial principles?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Guys I'm planning on giving my cs1, cm1 and cb2 exams and I need some book suggestions for the same

Was recently offered to be part of the program. Any advice on whether or not I should accept or on the program in general whether or not it is worth it?

The title

View Poll

First, we discussed the job market for credentialed actuaries. Then, we explored the struggles of career changers. Hence, I felt this was the perfect place to discuss my situation with like-minded peers.

I'm currently finishing up my M.S. in Medieval Studies. Unfortunately, I have not enjoyed it enough to get my PhD. Instead, I'd like to pivot into full-time Dungeon Mastering. I'm studying hard for the official "Rules Lawyer" certification and plan to take it in March or May (depending on my campaign schedule), followed by Advanced Improvisation in June or July (depending on if my players survive).

The good news is that Medieval Studies has given me a solid foundation in lore crafting, arguing about historical accuracy, and making up rules on the fly. I've also completed several homebrew campaigns and two disastrous one-shots where my players promptly derailed the story and started a crime syndicate.

I know the entry-level job market for Professional Dungeon Masters is difficult under the best circumstances. From my understanding, the market is oversaturated with wannabe Critical Role clones. Combined with my background being far from that of the stereotypical DM (I have never once worn a wizard hat), I'm worried.

So here's what I'm wondering:

• How difficult is it for career changers to get a job as a full-time Dungeon Master in 2025? (I am specifically interested in high fantasy, but also open to sci-fi.)
• Would it be impossible to get a remote DM job? I’m open to hybrid/in-person, but my ideal workspace includes dim lighting, dramatic background music, and at least three candles for ambiance. Also, I live in Utah, and the local LARPing scene is aggressive.
• How many campaigns should I plan to run before I’m competitive for an entry-level position? I used to hear that two was enough, but with the current market and no sponsorships from dice companies, I wasn’t sure if this rule still applies.
• Do Fall DM Internships exist? It would be nice to get my foot in the door after passing my certification and gain some experience in the field.

In general, I'm trying to gauge whether or not this is doable and how difficult it might be. I'd also love any other advice/thoughts you all might have on pivoting into the professional TTRPG world. Thank you all in advance!!

Hi everyone,

Over the past few months I have building out a system that integrates automated grading, gamification, and social learning for written actuarial exams.

The software is now ready for use for Exam PA: https://www.theactuarialnexus.com/past-exams/examPA

You will need to make an account to get started. Here are some of the main features:

• Automatic grading by AI. Unlimited follow-up conversations after your initial response is graded.
• Stored responses (by user) and shared responses (by question). This means that you have the ability to share your responses for others to see. Data privacy toggles are available if you don't want to share your responses.
• A user level and question difficulty system.
• Leaderboards and overall performance analytics.
• Discussion pages for each subtask or user response.
• All questions from the past 10 exams released by the SOA.

The entire system will be free for the Spring 2025 sitting, and most likely up through the end of the Fall 2025 sitting. Donations are welcome (this still needs to be set up, but if you would like to donate in the meantime, feel free to make any purchase on the pricing page).

Please note that these tools haven't been stress-tested so there will be bugs, especially for early adopters (thanks for helping test this). My priority is addressing any bugs that get reported. My secondary priorities will be adding more features and custom exam questions.

If all goes well, we may offer similar services for FSA exams. The system is set up to intake past FSA exams, but I'm a little hesitant to expand too quickly, especially with the exam structure changing soon. Curious if anyone has any thoughts here.

Thanks,
Jeff

Does anybody know how to report it. Below is what I found for question 3:

It's not possible for the Average Annual cost to be $11,500 if the range is between $8,000-$11,000.

I'm planning my next move in my career as I get my FSA this year. I want to get some people's insight into how they were able to land a job that is outside the U.S. Specifically I'm looking for a role in South Korea. I know that there are reinsurance companies that reinsure internationally and posts roles that are outside the U.S.

So my questions is, how did you go about your next career move to the country you want? (Doesn't need to be specifically South Korea, just want to hear some other's experiences). Also, what was the compensation like? For example, it seems that in South Korea, actuaries aren't paid as well as in the U.S. -- do you get paid based on the local country salary band? or the U.S. salary band?

-----------------------------------

Edit: For anyone interested in the same question, read this post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/18tfxr9/south_korea_digital_nomad_visa_starting_from/

I think this is the direction that I am planning on going with, there seem to be other countries with the same kind of visa!

Hoping for some feedback. I've been putting in a lot of applications to EB, life and health EL actuarial analyst positions over past two months, but I've received 1 invite to progress. I must have a subpar resume. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Has anyone noticed that only 1-2 days are available no matter what location they look at? For example, I tried a bunch of different city/states across the US for exam 7 and there are zero dates open anywhere except April 15-16.

I’ve been back and forth between taking ATPA in April or October 2025 and am now leaning towards just taking it in April. A bit last minute I know lol

For those who have already taken/passed, would you say 8 weeks enough time to prepare (not including the time spent actually sitting for it of course)? I passed both SRM and PA on my first attempts, sat for PA in October 2024.

I also have very minimal R/Python experience if that additional context helps.

Hi is TIA website down for anyone else?

Hello I'm looking for Actuarial analyst positions in Dubai. I have just one year experience but my parents are moving to Dubai and I would like to stay close to them. I am a student member of the IFoA with 7 papers cleared looking to specialise in GI. What companies should I look into? Is the job market open to foreigners?

https://preview.redd.it/ju68cqp809ge1.png?width=1218&format=png&auto=webp&s=048852993b0e394f4929db5a3bdb548d8472f821

Hi all please critique my resume. I understand I would have more options with more tests under my belt but, could I get an entry level job in the actuarial field with this resume?

I am open to advice and criticism

I know it's not as hot as it was 2-3 years ago but curious if now's a decent time to change things up.

Hi everyone! If anyone is interested in seeing their salary progression with towards their SOA/CAS designations, I added a tracker to actuarial-tracker.com - Basically you just enter the money amounts for everything from your company's study plan and that's it -- It calculates everything based on your progress :)

Right now you have to enter everything manually, but I am planning on making an option to upload your study program to a pdf, and it auto inputs everything for you -- Not sure if its possible but I will try it

Anyways let me know and always looking for advice, thanks!

*Just make sure to first fill out tracker to actually see your salary lol*

layout

I'm taking my first module in ATPA (just took SRM and PA) and unsure exactly what to expect. I'm currently reading through the ACTEX module - what else should I be doing to prepare? I've heard that the modules are not great, but that the code in them is useful. Is the code provided in the chunks in the ACTEX module sufficient for taking the assessment, or do I need to compile all the code from the modules too? Do I need to know how to code in R outside of tweaking the code provided in the modules/ACTEX? And finally how much should I be doing to prepare in terms of taking a practice assessment/looking at previous assessments? I'm not sure if that is necessary/a priority or not with the assessment portion being open book

I failed ASTAM in Oct 24 and am planning to retake in April. I feel like I know the material to a certain extent (e.g. if the exam is like April 24, I'll probably pass), so I jumped straight into adapt question after not looking at the material for 3 months while waiting for results. I get stuck and frustrated not remembering the approach to a question but mostly understand the solution after skipping to grading. I don't know if I should rewatch since that feels like a huge time sink. LMK how you would go about this, thanks.

Just passed Exam FM last December and I've started studying for the May sitting of Exam SRM.

Reading through the material makes me think that I need to change up how I study this time. There's definitely a lot more qualitative topics, which I tend to struggle with more compared to more quantitative topics.

For Exam P and Exam FM, grinding a ton of ADAPT was extremely effective but that's probably not the way to go for Exam SRM. For those of you who have passed Exam SRM, please share your wisdom with me.

I just got my invite for APC 467 in Tysons VA and booked the hotel recommended by the SOA.

My question is: is the actual APC held in the same hotel as the one provided or do you often have to travel to get there?

I just passed the November FAM sitting and only have ASTAM/ALTAM left so would like to attempt it in April. However I’m having a hard time deciding which one. My current employer is short term but does not care which one we take. I felt more confident on long term when studying for FAM, but I think that was because long term felt more cohesive whereas short term felt like a different subject in each section.

I know no one has taken both, but from people that took LTAM/STAM and/or FAM-S/FAM-L, I was curious what anyone would think would be better or easier to prepare for by April. I keep changing my mind so just looking for advice if anyone has any.

What’s the best way to prepare for PA to ensure you pass?

I am wondering if anyone in Canada has broken into the field with a non-traditional background (I.e no actuarial internships, non act sci major) ? Need some inspiration rn

Is the actual exam similar to the sample assessment?

Hello! I'm planning on sitting for PA in April and will begin studying soon. I've heard really good things about the Actex manual, but I was also wondering about using past SOA exams. There's tons of old PA exams on the website, but with the exam changes like R and R markdown not being available starting in April 2023, I was wondering it would only be helpful to use newer exams. Should I stick to April 2023-on or go further back? Thanks!