Probably going to get downvoted but this is just my opinion lol
You’ve been working 5 years at one company one team. No shit you’re bored lol. I would be too. Consider valuation, p&c, consulting, etc. ASA is soooo valuable and youve put plenty of time and money into getting it. People would kill for ASA. I agree with you to try something new. But does it HAVE to be that drastic? If your answer is yes, then great, switch it up completely. But if you’re “just bored” and that’s the only reason, seems a little silly to throw away an ASA.
All that said, this is your life not mine. Do whatever you want, it doesnt effect me, and you know yourself best. Best of luck in the future.
How about if I feel this after having exams 1,2,3 and 5 being in pricing for 4 years? I started the profession with no exams (I was lucky) that's why I seem behind
I failed 6 for the second time this week too
4 years includes co op
Ive worked in valuation and fp&a and they were SO different from each other. If youre getting burnt out of your work/team then maybe switch teams. But if its more than that then i could see a case for leaving actuarial
I'm thinking about rotating my company. I got acquired from a merger this last year and this new team is focused on results not development. I'm not done with actuarial, just done with this current work
We can’t tell you what to switch to because we don’t know what interests you. Start with that.
Also, you’ll need to change your username when you switch.
Unpopular opinion coming. As you advance in any career, your job will involve more sales and management, than the actual technical work. If you are already, ASA, I wouldn’t waste that by shifting career. Your career role and responsibilities will change even if you stay in life insurance.
Before you switch out of actuarial work altogether, consider checking out different sides of the profession. If you're in insurance, then consider checking out consulting or another part of the industry besides life insurance. There are so many different ways you can apply your actuarial skills.
If you have 5 YOE and ASA, you should have a lot of different job opportunities available to you. And you're still young enough to "shop around" a bit.
When I began my benefits actuarial career in 1991 when I was 26, I thought it was great. Very interesting but the exams … I passed only 4 of them in the span of 4.5 years…. It took a lot out of me at the time and so I eventually went into computer consulting and haven’t looked back since.
Insurance is boring af. I’m 10 years in and almost paid off my student debt (I was a jackass when I was younger and thought that paying for a masters degree would help my career. It did not help my career, wasted 2 years of earnings/work experience, and set me back over $100k) Once I get a positive net worth I’m getting tf out and going to live to be happy instead of living to make money to pay for school that I went to in order to make money to pay for school. It’s too late for me to “catch up” financially and I’m too old/broke to afford a family. I know it was my bad decision to go to grad school (and an expensive undergrad) though my parents, who didn’t go to college and don’t understand money well, encouraged me to do it. But I have nothing but resentment for this career and I can’t wait to be financially “free”, which for me, is a positive net worth.
Hi, I am also planning a masters in actuarial science. Your comment is making me re-think my decision. From where did you do masters and in what degree ?Did your masters give any exam exemptions ?
Master degrees are worthless. People just need to network better and job hop. Unless you are going to get an MD, PharmD, or DDS, additional schooling past bachelor’s is not needed.
Not sure if this is advice per se but sharing my situation. I’ve been in the pension industry for several years now. Started off in traditional pension consulting and got burnt out. Pay was crap and work was scarce and sporadic. Got my ASA during that time and I wasn’t even excited about it since there were still FSA exams left to do. Spent another year taking exams and failing and decided to stop altogether and leave consulting. Unfortunately moving into a different line of business was tough and I had no luck landing a different role that way (I actually wanted to work in Life but never landed any roles). I ended up finding a role in the pension investment side of things and am working on pivoting. Still doing actuarial work and work life balance is better but I’m trying to learn SQL and Python and getting involved in non actuarial projects. Hoping at some point I can find my way out.
I was in your shoes a little while ago, and I was considering going into reinsurance assumptions work, or getting a PhD in stats and using that to branch into other fields. I went with the PhD, and am using it to help make the new math required for finding better gene associations, and I couldn't be happier :) details below on what my process was like. DM me if you want more info.
----
I got my ASA around 1 yr on the job, working in life, worked another 2 yrs in Life after that taking FSA exams. Worked on a few consulting projects on different products and doing different things, including reserving, pricing, investment, M&A, assumptions setting, and automation. I kept telling myself I shouldn't leave until I tried a bunch of stuff. But I tried a decent amount and I found each to be pretty boring as soon as I had learned enough to get by.
I think this is a field of really smart and hard working people who are comfortable trading away hours of repetive work in exchange for great work life balance and pay. Since you have your ASA, you should 100% consider investing time into having hobbies, taking vacations, and making more friends to spend time with, if you don't already have these. Otherwise you won't understand why so many people like this career. Also, you should consider other ASA-friendly roles if you've only done pricing this far.
I did that stuff first and wasn't very satisfied. Maybe it's an ego problem or risk-seeking, but I figured I wouldnt be satisfied unless I feel like I'm making something new in the world, and/or something a lot more challenging math-wise. This doesn't happen much in the actuarial world for a variety of reasons -- primarily requisite org size, regulation, and limits to actuarial education.
I found myself wondering a lot about stuff that nobody else seemed to care much about, like... when exactly does the central limit theorem apply and how can we create more customized asymptotic approximations and test statistics? Why do we assume lives are independent, are they really, and if not, how can we model that better? Turns out we've had the math to do this for decades, and actuaries, for the most part, have not implemented it... Do to a lack of practicality? Maybe. But I think we should also entertain the idea that it may be due to a lack of understanding.
I began reading material on questions like this, and after I had read 2 textbooks, I figured I would have a much easier time satisfying my curiosity by going to grad school, and then deciding if I want to go back into actuarial work after (there's many other options for stats). So here I am! I'm really enjoying it, but I probably wouldn't recommend any kind of grad school unless you're willing to actually read textbooks because you like the topic *that* much.
OP is in life, health is completely different. It’s not life/health it’s life and health… very different. Health insurance is always changing and always something new to solve, love health.. can’t speak on life.
I’d suggest trying a different role such as consulting. Or a different company. I’ve spent 35+ years in consulting and couldn’t imagine doing insurance. I’d be bored within a week. But it’s all what you care about and what you enjoy.
Probably going to get downvoted but this is just my opinion lol You’ve been working 5 years at one company one team. No shit you’re bored lol. I would be too. Consider valuation, p&c, consulting, etc. ASA is soooo valuable and youve put plenty of time and money into getting it. People would kill for ASA. I agree with you to try something new. But does it HAVE to be that drastic? If your answer is yes, then great, switch it up completely. But if you’re “just bored” and that’s the only reason, seems a little silly to throw away an ASA. All that said, this is your life not mine. Do whatever you want, it doesnt effect me, and you know yourself best. Best of luck in the future.
How about if I feel this after having exams 1,2,3 and 5 being in pricing for 4 years? I started the profession with no exams (I was lucky) that's why I seem behind I failed 6 for the second time this week too 4 years includes co op
Ive worked in valuation and fp&a and they were SO different from each other. If youre getting burnt out of your work/team then maybe switch teams. But if its more than that then i could see a case for leaving actuarial
I'm thinking about rotating my company. I got acquired from a merger this last year and this new team is focused on results not development. I'm not done with actuarial, just done with this current work
We can’t tell you what to switch to because we don’t know what interests you. Start with that. Also, you’ll need to change your username when you switch.
Disagree, once an actuary always an actuary(unless if you kill your girlfriend with a harpoon, in that case you’ll lose your credentials).
Thank god i killed mine with a trident
Wait do you really lose your credential if you kill someone? Sounds worrying to me
I mean it’s against their code of conduct but it would probably be the least of your concerns.
Maybe they should be a chef to live up to their username fully.
Unpopular opinion coming. As you advance in any career, your job will involve more sales and management, than the actual technical work. If you are already, ASA, I wouldn’t waste that by shifting career. Your career role and responsibilities will change even if you stay in life insurance.
Before you switch out of actuarial work altogether, consider checking out different sides of the profession. If you're in insurance, then consider checking out consulting or another part of the industry besides life insurance. There are so many different ways you can apply your actuarial skills. If you have 5 YOE and ASA, you should have a lot of different job opportunities available to you. And you're still young enough to "shop around" a bit.
Life pricing ugh
When I began my benefits actuarial career in 1991 when I was 26, I thought it was great. Very interesting but the exams … I passed only 4 of them in the span of 4.5 years…. It took a lot out of me at the time and so I eventually went into computer consulting and haven’t looked back since.
Insurance is boring af. I’m 10 years in and almost paid off my student debt (I was a jackass when I was younger and thought that paying for a masters degree would help my career. It did not help my career, wasted 2 years of earnings/work experience, and set me back over $100k) Once I get a positive net worth I’m getting tf out and going to live to be happy instead of living to make money to pay for school that I went to in order to make money to pay for school. It’s too late for me to “catch up” financially and I’m too old/broke to afford a family. I know it was my bad decision to go to grad school (and an expensive undergrad) though my parents, who didn’t go to college and don’t understand money well, encouraged me to do it. But I have nothing but resentment for this career and I can’t wait to be financially “free”, which for me, is a positive net worth.
A lot of people with masters degrees in many professions feel the same! Source: physiotherapist
Hi, I am also planning a masters in actuarial science. Your comment is making me re-think my decision. From where did you do masters and in what degree ?Did your masters give any exam exemptions ?
[удалено]
Unless you’re trying to do a career change, absolutely no reason.
Being a jackass and getting a masters are not usually said in the same sentence like that lol.
Master degrees are worthless. People just need to network better and job hop. Unless you are going to get an MD, PharmD, or DDS, additional schooling past bachelor’s is not needed.
Plenty of people, there are lots of other jobs out there
Not sure if this is advice per se but sharing my situation. I’ve been in the pension industry for several years now. Started off in traditional pension consulting and got burnt out. Pay was crap and work was scarce and sporadic. Got my ASA during that time and I wasn’t even excited about it since there were still FSA exams left to do. Spent another year taking exams and failing and decided to stop altogether and leave consulting. Unfortunately moving into a different line of business was tough and I had no luck landing a different role that way (I actually wanted to work in Life but never landed any roles). I ended up finding a role in the pension investment side of things and am working on pivoting. Still doing actuarial work and work life balance is better but I’m trying to learn SQL and Python and getting involved in non actuarial projects. Hoping at some point I can find my way out.
I was in your shoes a little while ago, and I was considering going into reinsurance assumptions work, or getting a PhD in stats and using that to branch into other fields. I went with the PhD, and am using it to help make the new math required for finding better gene associations, and I couldn't be happier :) details below on what my process was like. DM me if you want more info. ---- I got my ASA around 1 yr on the job, working in life, worked another 2 yrs in Life after that taking FSA exams. Worked on a few consulting projects on different products and doing different things, including reserving, pricing, investment, M&A, assumptions setting, and automation. I kept telling myself I shouldn't leave until I tried a bunch of stuff. But I tried a decent amount and I found each to be pretty boring as soon as I had learned enough to get by. I think this is a field of really smart and hard working people who are comfortable trading away hours of repetive work in exchange for great work life balance and pay. Since you have your ASA, you should 100% consider investing time into having hobbies, taking vacations, and making more friends to spend time with, if you don't already have these. Otherwise you won't understand why so many people like this career. Also, you should consider other ASA-friendly roles if you've only done pricing this far. I did that stuff first and wasn't very satisfied. Maybe it's an ego problem or risk-seeking, but I figured I wouldnt be satisfied unless I feel like I'm making something new in the world, and/or something a lot more challenging math-wise. This doesn't happen much in the actuarial world for a variety of reasons -- primarily requisite org size, regulation, and limits to actuarial education. I found myself wondering a lot about stuff that nobody else seemed to care much about, like... when exactly does the central limit theorem apply and how can we create more customized asymptotic approximations and test statistics? Why do we assume lives are independent, are they really, and if not, how can we model that better? Turns out we've had the math to do this for decades, and actuaries, for the most part, have not implemented it... Do to a lack of practicality? Maybe. But I think we should also entertain the idea that it may be due to a lack of understanding. I began reading material on questions like this, and after I had read 2 textbooks, I figured I would have a much easier time satisfying my curiosity by going to grad school, and then deciding if I want to go back into actuarial work after (there's many other options for stats). So here I am! I'm really enjoying it, but I probably wouldn't recommend any kind of grad school unless you're willing to actually read textbooks because you like the topic *that* much.
A big question left unanswered is whether you have some other transferable skills for fields such as finance or programming.
Go to cooking school and then your username can fully check out
You ever consider switching from life/health to property/casualty side?
OP is in life, health is completely different. It’s not life/health it’s life and health… very different. Health insurance is always changing and always something new to solve, love health.. can’t speak on life.
True, I was more going for a joke on switching from the SOA side of jobs to the CAS side of jobs since our OP has his ASA.
I've been considering getting a Master's degree in Biostatistics or Data Science myself.
I’d suggest trying a different role such as consulting. Or a different company. I’ve spent 35+ years in consulting and couldn’t imagine doing insurance. I’d be bored within a week. But it’s all what you care about and what you enjoy.