Why I Left Actuarial Science 

I’m so glad I came across this video. I’m currently in the insurance field and love the company I work for, but I do agree that insurance can be boring ha! It’s the company that makes it fun.

I'm working at a company that doesn't have an actuarial study program yet and it has been really frustrating trying to pass exams. I've passed FM and P, but trying to pass another exam only being able to study after work has been such a challenge. I burn myself out trying to study for it and then end up failing and also losing the money for materials and exam. But on the positive side since the company is still small I feel like I have a better chance of climbing the management ladder and in a smaller city the barriers to entry for other business opportunities like real estate are reasonable. And I'm a fairly resilient person so I'm going to keep trying for the exams.

I totally agree with you. I am glad I made the right decision 41 years ago after I went to graduate school in actuarial science to find out more about a career in actuarial science and to support my decision then. However, the mathematical and statistical background you develop going through the actuarial process are very useful for other applications in other industries. Want to be super rich? You have to timely deliver values the market is looking for - not by passing exams.

Thank you. Your video was helpful, hope you're doing well in your present career.

Thank you for sharing your experiences ❤

This video was just what I needed. I am in a position where I need to make a final decision on what career I want to pursue, and I’ve been doubting actuarial science for the same reasons as you, so this video was incredibly reassuring. Thank you!

I like the perspective you give in this video, but I definitely think there is a lot of innovation in the insurance industry. Even just looking at auto insurance, the rise in autonomous cars is bringing up new problems to solve in the industry. I also think it depends what insurance company you work at; most that I know of don't have the goal to suck people dry.

Interesting video! I agree the insurance industry is well established and isn't growing as quickly as others. I'm happy with my job though because it offers several benefits. 1. Relatively high pay without having to be a lawyer or a doctor. (I hate conflict and blood) 2. Good work / life balance so I can spend plenty of time with my family. 3. It is tough to get into but once you gain sufficient experience, your employability is pretty solid. 4. Exams encourage you to continue to develop yourself and give opportunities to learn things outside your roles. As long as you enjoy exams, entry barrier will help you since you don't have to play as much politics at work later in your career. 5. Profession is well established and it is easier to work abroad because core actuarial skills are globally transferrable. I guess the profession is attractive to some people but not to many. In my opinion, these 'some people' tend to have scholarly motivation, are generally quiet in social life and don't enjoy confrontations with people. :)

No one chooses insurance, insurance chooses you. 😊 Tips for an enjoyable career in the field: stay away from health insurance, and find a regional P&C Mutual that cares about their employees. I can promise you not all insurance companies are trying to “suck people dry.” We’re in the business of paying claims and helping folks during times of devastation.

As an actuary, this is a very frustrating and sad video. I do wish the actuarial organizations did a better job of engaging young students like this and providing a better vision for innovating the insurance industry, especially since actuaries that are committed to continuously upgrading their skills are essentially guaranteed job security. Almost any actuary can become a data scientist if they are committed to learning some of the required tech skills (I worked for almost 2 years as a data scientist and have seen many actuaries shift to non actuarial fields), but data scientists cannot easily become actuaries without the exams. I agree that the early exams (P in particular), are seldom used in my daily job, but once you get to later exams they are VERY useful for many regular tasks. I still regularly refer to my textbooks and utilize knowledge i gained during the exams all the time. It's unfortunate that your experience was poor, and in some ways it benefits me if there are less actuaries in the field (more opportunities and job security for me), but I hope people take this video with a big grain of salt; insurance serves an important function in society and actuaries are critical to the successful sustainability of insurance. When people ask me what an actuary does, I love to tell them that I make sure insurance companies and other financial institutions keep their promises.

It's been 1 year since this video. Still waiting for your groundbreaking meaningful passionate non-evil breakthrough.

Wish I saw this when I was still in college. 1 year into my actuarial analyst position and thinking about exit options.. this vid was def super helpful. 2 exams until ASA (and hopefully a big raise with that) makes it tough to walk away though

Very narrow opinion. Acturial Science is not about insurance only. There is risk management and statistics involved.

I think anyone watching this should take the advice with a grain of salt because it’s from someone with little experience in the field. Interns usually get random projects and don’t really get into the details of what the insurance company really is doing. Insurance isn’t boring, from an outsiders perspective it seems that way, but there is a lot of work and initiatives behind the scenes. Calling insurance evil is also shortsighted. If you worked in the field for a few years and had this perspective ok, but from just one internship it’s just judgmental based on social fad that it’s cool to hate insurance.

thank you so much for this!

I am from China, I generally agree with your idea based on the current insurance industry in my country. If you want to be an actuarial analyst in China, firstly you need to have a very good/excellent bachelor's degree background which means this working area set a barrier with a very high standard. Secondly, most of good actuaries job positions are only posted in the headquarters of insurance companies located in Beijing and Shanghai but only a few even a little in other cities, leading to the very limited employment situation compared to finance and accounting. Finally, other than soa, the actuary exam in China is caa, doing 8 exams to be an associate actuary, after having 2-3 working experience you are just allowed to take 5 another exams to be a fellow actuary.....

I would say it’s very beneficial if your university offers exemptions from the board exams. At my university they offer 8 board exam exemptions in the undergraduate degree alone. Followed by 2/3 in honors. I think being able to start your career with 10/11 of the exams completed is a huge boost. Perhaps insurance isn’t the most exciting as well but I’m heading for the investments route and feel as though it may be a lot more “exciting” per say. It definitely boils down to what you enjoy doing and if it’s a fit for you.

Thank you for your video! I have a Bachelor's in Business and have not been satisfied with my jobs because I'm not using Math and/or Statistics. I was thinking about Actuary Science, but if that is not for me, what can I use Math for? I'd like to know.

I’m in P&C and disagree with many of your points. The property insurance industry can be very interesting. I’m working on building neural networks, object detection, automation of various tasks, and problem solving for other random projects that get thrown at me. Also in terms of being evil, I think property insurance is a completely necessary product. Good luck living in a risky area like costal Florida without it! Of course we need to turn a profit in order to pay employees and shareholders, but it’s a highly competitive industry and very regulated, so consumers are protected from unreasonably high premiums. I will concede that the health/life side probably is a bit more dry and I certainly think non-catastrophic health insurance is a pretty ridiculous money grab. Not really providing any service other than being a middle man that could easily be replaced with an open market.

Should I do ba math I want to do something in statistics ? I want to do it cause math comes everywhere and so math does not become barrier for me to understand any field whether it's physics , or like economics , but my major interest is in statistics and economics plz advice , Is BA math good for me?

Hey Tiara is there anywhere where I could reach you for couple questions?

I'm working as a life actuary for 13 years now and I am really happy with my job choice. It's true that it is not super innovative, but it offers security and stability. I find the work meaningful, but this is my personal view. We offer protection against life risks, which I find quite important - though it may sound boring. I could never convince myself to work in e.g. computer games or sports industry, they don't produce anything necessary for life. From a mathematical point of view, it is not very challenging, true. Just challenging enough for an average mathematician. Super talented people are better off in research fields, but most graduates aren't, to be honest. Congrats if you are! Wages and working conditions for actuaries are very good in my country, but this may be different in other places.

I’m Thai , I just grad actuarial studies last 2years and currently i working as actuarial analyst for top general insurance company in Thailand. I think everything was what u said hahaa , Many people from gen z is thinking like us too. Another choice is going to be Quant analyst but u have to studies more vary fields like econ , finance , investing , data science to be able to do. Btw thx for your thought , its awesome👍🏻 Ps.Sorry if i spell or grammar sth wrong , im not really good at English

Awesome information, you accomplished scaring me to not pursue it! Specifically the example questions. But overall pretty objective explanation 👏👏🙏🙏🥰

This is why I'm double majoring in actuarial science and math so I can be able to escape in case I change my mind.

iam applying for insurance exams under acturies category.iam a bsc statistics student right now iam working in regional rural bank.my question is going from banking to insurance is a good decision or bad decision,please kindly reply,

I wish I could have watched your video 2?5 years back. I am stuck with actuaries for more than 2.5 years. I really don't know, what to do now. I joined it because I heard a myth that actuaries make a lot of money in initial years, but that's totally wrong, I think switching my career is the only option I have. Guys before pursing actuaries, plss know that it is a myth that actuaries make a lot of money. A fresher actuarial on an average with 5-6 papers cleared only makes 5-6L per annum. But clearing that 5-6 papers isn't easy. You have to dedicate a lot of hours. Don't pursue!!!!!!!

Thank you for absolutely nothing ,Studying actuaries and clearing the papers have not only made me smart but helped me manage my time efficiently which goes in studying mostly but has overall developed my persona and mentality to a whole different level.If you guys ever love math and stats you should study actuaries as it is not limited to insurance and can be applied to various other fields such as Finance ,The only downside or upside I must say is that it requires a lot of dedication and hardwork ,So if you are a lazy person you know what to choose

Agree with every word of this

Why do you find the insurance industry evil? Of all companies, I want my insurance company to be rich. Why? Because the reverse is way worse. You want insurance companies that can comfortably pay claims. I've worked with companies who try to charge the lowest possible rates to "not take advantage" of people that turn around and have a downturn and leave policy holders with legitimate claims with the protection as they go bankrupt.

What are other math fields than actuarial science data science and teaching?

I have got a job as apprentice in Swiss Re Company in Banglore Can i join or not ? If not why and explain the sequences in it...

Probably not the best to have a thumbnail that tells people (children/young adults) not to be an actuary. They may like it more than you do.

Hey i am from commerce(finance) stream and i am seeking for a cource in which i can utilize my skill of mathematics and statistics. I will be glab if someone can suggest me some great courses related to such skills.

I am BBA Graduate , I Studied Algebra, Geometry & Mensuration , Probability P&C, Arithmetic , Numbers , Logarithm In maths But I never learn Calculas in my life i dont know how to solve Integration or derivative limitz etc , So should i avoid Masters in acturial science course Or I can manage that much ?

Actuarial Science is a lot more than just insurance. There’s banking, Investments and quantitative finance, climate change, and general enterprise risk management. Please be more informed the next time you give advice. This video is essentially worthless.

Which field is best aftet masters in statistics?

Was an actuary working in investment so there are more choices than just insurance so misleading. Moved to energy trader role now

i agree....insurance company is well established business, which are older by generations than we as individuals are. So, not much room for drastic innovation for actuarial.

The only good argument is the pay. Actuarial salaries plateau after the exams are done. Any competent actuary could make way more in a quant role at a finance company

I wish I could have seen ur videos before I was interviewed for the economics consultant role… I really want to do this position because my previous major is economics. My current major is data science though.

Studied MSci in Actuarial Sciences but never wanted to be an actuary. The beauty of math attracted me. I stayed as a teacher after passing 7 exams :) It is more rewarding and creative…

im leaving actuarial and it feels so good. wish i saw this vid before entering the industry

Good that you left it. Less dumb people in our Actuarial profession. Yes its not for average students. They fail and then cry that its boring. Regarding salary and working conditions you are completely wrong. Data Scientists dont even make half of the salary of an Actuary (atleast I have seen this in 3 countries) . Also I have never seen any data scientist in C-level top position of the company because of their narrow view on the numbers.

I was an actuarial regulator and am now a private sector actuary and I don't see this "evil" that you mentioned. Insurance is never a "good deal" but necessary, much like accountants at any business large or small. The accountants aren't actually "doing" anything in the sense that they create nothing tangible but no one would dispute the value of keeping the books and insurance is similar in the sense that insurance "products" aren't an actual material good or service but it's a good idea if you have a family to get a term life insurance policy so your family isn't destitute if the breadwinner dies. But by "evil" I think you meant something beyond this, and I haven't seen it. Not saying it doesn't exist but I haven't seen it. Insurance is the most heavily regulated area of the financial sector/most above reproach, as opposed to say hedge funds or something. Also, male white dominated blah blah blah? I work for an ins. company with several minorities and I have never seen them disrespected.

too late, I'm in my 4th year

The boring industry and these unrelated exams help acturial science graduates (with 2 internships and a minimum of 3-4 actuarial exams under their belt) start their professions with a lucrative salary which contributes to an early retirement. Hence, it is difinitive that the first 5 years of acturial are gonna be a grind. But after those years that shape your personality and build discipline, you will have a good life. DON'T QUIT ACTURIAL!

Interesting. I left data science because companies don’t have a clue what they want, but actuarial science seems to be directly relevant to business, and is therefore seems to be more valuable.

1:53 so acturial science is just for insurance?

It’s ok to say that you weren’t a right fit for the career. The reason’s you state are common reasons why people might leave, however, there were some very broad brush negative remarks about the industry which i doubt is a fair reflection of the whole career. Every profession has it’s downsides, including data science (you do very little client engagement work as a data scientist amongst other things)

❤❤❤❤👍👍

It feels like your opinions are based off of a lack of understanding + not enough exposure to the industry. Very little innovation - That is false or it depend on what you define as "innovation". There are constantly innovations in the insurance industry however, these are mostly related to data analysis for pricing and managing risk (these can go from your basic car insurance product to insurance with some exotic structures). If you work in modeling teams or you do academic research you may be exposed to these type of work. Obviously your typical reserving actuary will not be making innovations. Pigeon holed - That is definitely wrong. I know actuaries who moved in consulting, investment banks, hedge funds, executive roles. Obviously you will be unlikely to move into a tech company in a coding role but actually you can be potentially hired to be a CFO in a tech company. Insurance industry is evil - You definitely do not understand how insurance work if you make this statement. Fundamentally, insurance works the same way as a restaurant. In a a restaurant, price = cost of product + expenses + profit required by share holder. That is the same for insurance. If you are going to call insurance evil you might as well call all for profit business evil. You don't know how you would be able to make a meaningful difference - Again this shows that you have a lack of understanding of insurance. Your everyday life is only possible at its current state because of the existence of insurance. Things you buy that are imported is possible because of marine/aviation lines insurance insuring the downside risks. Technological development is partly possible because insurance is there to cover the downside risk for the companies/investors. Money - Actuaries wont be paid the best in the world if you stick to basic actuarial work. There are many actuaries who take on executive positions who are paid millions though. The same can be said for a lot of professions. You probably will only be making a few hundred grand in most professions unless you become the top 1% of the profession. However, for the amount of work/hours you need to put in, it is actually not too bad. Actuarial exams are actually pretty easy if you are decent at math and don't need that much effort to clear. If you cant clear Actuarial exams quickly you probably won't be smart enough to pursue the other more luxurious careers like hedge funds, investment banking or stem research. Exams are not related to day to day work of an actuary - Completely false. This will depend on the function that you work in. Your examples ... Are you serious? You really have 0 understanding of the work of actuaries. You need 4:21 to estimate the expected cost of workers compensation insurance within a year (pricing actuaries use these kind of statistics on a daily basis). At 4:24 it literally tells you that it is modeling the expected cost of theft losses in a home insurance... which is exactly what a pricing actuary do on a daily basis. At 4:26 that is trying to test your ability of using different methods to calculate expected value ... which is one of the most important thing an actuary does... you know right ... estimating the expected value of the loss distribution ... At 4:44, ok true some people might have forgotten how some of these are done or they may take a bit longer than they once needed to work through the math. But the same thing can be said about a lot of other fields. You can go around and ask "data scientists" if they truly understand the math behind the neural networks, I can also guarantee you most won't be able to do it unless they have a PHD in the field (fyi there are actuaries with PHD from all sorts of stem fields who are doing a lot of the development work). At 5:21 .. are you serious... unnecessary? Thank god your not an executive at any mathematics driven fields. You may get away with the work a reserving actuary does without some of the materials covered in the exams but you definitely cannot be an pricing/modeling actuary without these mathematical skills. The exams allows the profession to control the level and quality of knowledge of actuaries which is 100% necessary. At 6:00, no way in hell that is possible unless their masters is from some bad university and their mathematical knowledge isn't too good to begin with. The mathematics in actuarial exams is bachelor degree statistics class level at max. Data science ... lol. I used to work in modeling team and we build machine learning models and tools all the time. Its just that we analyze data for the purpose of pricing risk (which fyi is the general theme in finance) and we actually work with data scientists together on these things.

To be honest. I also felt that the exams were a barrier to entry until i actually finished my actuarial exams And i then started interpreting the exams as providing you with a holistic skillset that you could use at anytime and have accreditation that you have that knowledge Isssue i find with data science is that anyone can become one and there aren't professional standards governing their implementation which could ruin a company easily

As an actuary, I really find this video absolutely frustrating and small minded. You are using anecdotal experiences as if they are objectively true.

Sorry, I know this video wasn't really popular in the poll, but I wanted to talk about this anyway. I am still planning on posting the most popular videos in the most recent polls

Thank you

average median income for data science is $98K. average median income for actuary is $111k.

I am a bit puzzled about this whole opinion on how bad insurance industry is. I mean I'm sorry but every company needs to make money to stay solvent and be able to pay people the good salaries, right? Moreover, please imagine the world without insurance. The truth is, there would not be the world as we know it without it. And what would insurance companies have to do to stop being "evil"? Give insurance for free? Then it would be fine? Risk transfer is not a charity organization. I mean, money does not fall from the sky. It has to be made and insurance is money making industry, there is no good or evil in it. And ok, if people do not know how it works and they look at everything with the mindset "everyone wants to screw me over" then of course after couple of years of not needing the help of insurance you might think you are "wasting" money. But try to not have any insurance and get your house destroyed in the hurricane. If you have the fortune to buy a new house next day safely stored in your bank then great but not many people do as far as I know.

I like your honesty but your choice of words are very strong against one of the best profession in the world. I wish you nothing but happiness in your next career.

Past 2 exams did 1 internship. What a flop of an actuary. Youre not even nearly qualified to do actuarial work. ACTUARIES work in banking, investments and insurance believe me as an actuary and quant we do more than your 3 months of experience to give this opinion on.

Nonsense

You said it’s not a great career option for anyone in the beginning and you’re also replying to people who don’t agree with you that it’s a good fit for some? That with your weak arguments shows you’re just being salty. An statement in the beginning like that is extremely irresponsible and misleading.

Why not teach math?

I think any man would hire you for any career

heyy!! can i built my career in actuarial science or not??? i am in 12th right now? please suggest

After this video i feel actuary science is the video game in real life you need to clear a hard level everytime you pass previous level

thumb down at "white male ..blah blah". I hope everyone will call you "indian female" form now on.

I disagree on the exams being difficult...I am almost an FSA and I found them easy.

I don’t think calling insurance companies “evil” sells your argument, especially without ample examples of what you mean by that claim. Insurance is also ripe for innovation. They are desperate. If you weren’t up for the challenge.. that’s on you. I do get that actuarial science is very established, statistics is very mature, but there is a huge future in the intersection of data science, computer science, and actuarial science in insurance. I would not say that insurers are all going to see it that way, and as the ‘little person’ in the company, you could definitely get frustrated, but I don’t think it’s time to throw the baby out with the bath water just because of your own experience. Hedge funds and tech companies aren’t necessarily dream jobs either. You are still ultimately going to progress based on whether you ‘get’ your industry, and have useful project/managerial skills.

Exam pass rate is actually above 50% your info is misleading , the exams are no where near as hard as medical,law,math,engineering,etc exams, you don't need to be a genius to get into actuary field . insurance isn't the only thing that actuaries can do , if you did better research you'd realize there are other actuarial fields like ,casualty health care,finance and investment,enterprise risk management,banking and pensions.

i wish i saw this 2 years ago.....

Man I was really hoping this was going to be insightful and interesting. I don't even have a horse in this race. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your experience but it really sounds like you didn't really do your due dilligence. Your hate towards commercialism and the idea a competitive market encourages autonomous product regulation has nothing to do whether insurance is evil. Personally its saved my life several times. Barrier of entry.. that is the very idea of the education system why does this suddenly bother you, it seems you have a degree. Do you think most "electrical engineers" whos been working CAD for the last 15 years can answer a question on RLC circuits in 6mins? A particle physicist with a doctorate whos been working on satelites for the past 5years will not be able to solve a problem involving Hamiltonian from their classic mechanics qualifications exam in 15-30mins. Or did you think being able to answer a statistical inference question(as it seems you liked statistics) from your professor's randomly proctored time was a surefire way to determine whether you were good or bad probabilist or statistican by your little letter grade.. There is free data available from the likes of NHANES, where you can apply your regression models and analysis. You will quickly realize, your A or F on the exam was useless and your practice from previous on applying R, or SAS or whichever u choose quickly exceeds anything else in usefulness. Surprise, practicing what you're trying to actually do makes you better at it and you don't actually solve word problems "out there". I would say you would be most successful if you instead claimed your goal was to spark discussion in the comments. As this video was so disappointingly unisightful, I really had high hopes it would knock me down to settle in my 9 to 5. Ironically, it has encouraged me to go back and finjsh my schooling to pursue work in an actuarial field. You may not find Insurances interesting but I always have and it seems that is a rare quality.

Wise decision

You let other people kill your passion...!

dont try politics lol

Mann you r soo cute👀

The actuary to data scientist pipeline is real lmao

Comparing Actuaries with Data Science is like comparing ferrari to toyota Stop cursing a profession because you did not have the intelligence to clear the papers

Woman moment

And all these numpties do at work is talk about exams.

Weak

esta muchacha no es mas que una anti, desacreditando la profesion de actuary, por que le ha ido mal, tien que aprender y practicar y no se crea que te van a dar un buen trabajo de uno, tienes que ganartelo, y asi es en toda profesion, preguentel a un ingeniero electronico si su trabajo es usando Laplace transforms or haciend disenos basados Fourier transformations, eso nunca se hace