Bedford Seminars - Fall 2019 Update

[Jim Bedford]

I hope everyone enjoyed some time off this holiday season. Now that we are into January and study season is starting to ramp up I wanted to let everyone know the Spring 2019 update of my CAS 5 material is complete. If you haven't heard of my material before it is probably because it is still relatively new (this is only the second sitting I am offering a full manual).

I offer a complete study manual, condensed/summary notes, flashcards, original practice problems, aggregation of prior CAS problems, fully functional Excel workbooks containing all end of chapter exhibits from the reserving text and appendices from the ratemaking text, an advanced practice problem set, an original practice exam, handwritten samples showing my recommendations on length/detail of solutions given the exam time constraints, and instructional videos designed to add value beyond simply reading the manual to you.

More importantly, I offer an intuitive and concise explanation of the material along with teaching study habits designed for this style of exam. By teaching the intuition behind the material (teaching the "why" rather than simply regurgitating the "what" or "how" of the material) I aim to cut down on your needed study time while increasing your understanding of the material and likelihood of passing. To successfully pass exams with confidence in today’s environment you need to fully understand the material on a deep and intuitive level.

Here are some recent testimonials to that effect:

Spoiler:

“I passed Exam 5 on my first attempt during my first year of P&C work thanks to Bedford Seminars. Mr. Bedford has clearly put a lot of thought into producing a manual that is thorough, easy to read, and provides the intuition necessary to truly understand the material. I would highly recommend this product to anyone preparing for Exam 5.”

"Bedford’s material is great. His methods of providing intuition behind the material is a great way to master the material to be able to pass the exam with ease. The price of the material is very fair and I would definitely recommend. I used this and I easily passed the exam on my first try."

“Jim Bedford’s notes are very concise yet thorough. His notes include comments that translate the text into practical knowledge that can be used on the job, but never lose sight of the immediate goal of passing the exam. His illustrations and insightful notes strike the perfect balance of brevity without compromising the necessary detail. I have also found his study tips and material retention tips to be very useful. I plan to use them not only for this exam, but for future exams as well.”

Originally Posted by rockinroltgen

I really liked Bedford. He did a great job of explaining the topics intuitively, thus cutting down on the pure memorization.
Also, he put all the appendices in excel, which really help with understanding of how all the pieces come together and you can change the severity percentage, for instance, to see how it changes the different reserving estimates.

Originally Posted by angryleslieknope

Your materials got me a 7 too. And I got married in July (so I didn't start studying until early August) and started interviewing for other jobs in October. I definitely didn't put in as many hours as I should have and still got there.
Thanks, man!

Originally Posted by Que

I'd say Bedford + past exam problems are all you need. I didn't spend enough time to do as many past exams as I wanted. I probably spent a total around 200 hours, got a 7. Could be better but that's good enough.

Samples, additional testimonials, and more detail can be found here: bedfordseminars.com/cas-exam-5

I'd love to help you pass this exam! Best of luck!

Jim

[Mdl911]

Are there videos for teaching the entire source material? Or just examples on problems?

[Jim Bedford]

Originally Posted by Mdl911

Are there videos for teaching the entire source material? Or just examples on problems?

Both teaching the material and sample problems.

[Mdl911]

1. for the Fall sitting, is anything changing in the material?

2. If I fail the 1st time, is there a pass guarantee for all of the material?

3. Can I only use the Bedford videos and do problems and pass that way? Or do the videos not cover everything I would need to know?

4. I took MAS1 and pretty sure that I passed. If for some reason I didn't and I purchased the Bedford material for 5, Would you be able to defer my exam material to a later time?

thanks

[Jim Bedford]

Originally Posted by Mdl911

1. for the Fall sitting, is anything changing in the material? Changes will be minimal, mostly updating with the new problems. I have sent students that are sitting in the Fall a copy of my Spring manual, and will send the new one along once updated.

2. If I fail the 1st time, is there a pass guarantee for all of the material? Yes

3. Can I only use the Bedford videos and do problems and pass that way? Or do the videos not cover everything I would need to know? The videos cover everything, but I would not suggest relying on them alone. The study manual should be your primary area of focus.

4. I took MAS1 and pretty sure that I passed. If for some reason I didn't and I purchased the Bedford material for 5, Would you be able to defer my exam material to a later time? Yes

.

[Mdl911]

Thanks for that. How many pages is the current study manual? and How many videos and hours of content are there? Is there a way to preview what the interface looks like, like how TIA has theirs?

[Jim Bedford]

Originally Posted by Mdl911

Thanks for that. How many pages is the current study manual? and How many videos and hours of content are there? Is there a way to preview what the interface looks like, like how TIA has theirs?

• 256 page manual
• 27 pages of condensed notes
• 204 flashcards
• Working Excel spreadsheets containing each appendix (ratemaking) and end of chapter exhibits (reserving)
• ~1,000 pages of practice problems and solutions (original & CAS)
• Advanced problem sets including 49 original problems
• Original practice exam and last three exams held out of the problem sets to take as practice
• Sample handwritten solutions showing recommended answer length given the exam time constraints
• 39 instructional videos and 48 practice problem videos totaling about 18 hours.
• The interface has a list of videos (and run times) organized by chapter. When you click on each the video pops up, like the sample video on my CAS Exam 5 page.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Jim Bedford]

The Fall 2019 version is now live. I've updated the thread title accordingly.

Thanks and good luck!