Youngest Actuary

[Darkness Falls]

Originally Posted by hotkarl

"racing" to me means designations at ages most people would be getting college degrees. I do not want to be misunderstood...getting through exams is good. I just don't think the sample set of those who get their A/F SA/CAS at ages 20-25 is a better set of actuaries than those who do so at 26-30 or 31-35.

Better... NO Although generalizing cases always leads to problems.

However, an actuary who is done with his exams will likely be able to contribute more at work. Namely, because they won't have studying hours anymore.

[Requiem]

It all depends on what the employee expects from the company when getting their FSA at such a young age. If the employee wants/expects to be a VP (and rewarded accordingly) with 2 years of experience, simply because (s)he is an FSA, then companies won't want this person (unless they are something truly special). If, however, this person finishes in 2 years, and knows that they don't have the experience to really climb the company's ladder that quickly, and don't expect a 6-digit salary after 2 years, then a company might be more willing to hire this person.

Personally, I want to be done with exams with <2 years of experience. I don't expect my job growth (well it will to a certain degree, but not really) to grow that fast. I just want to finish them to get them done, and I'll let my job performance dictate where I go within the company.

[LossLimit]

If you have nothing else to do with your time then go ahead and pursue this academic achievement of being the youngest actuary. I think it's impressive but I don't see the point (the same way I don’t see the point of getting your college degree at 17). I do see the point of pushing yourself at work and doing both a good job at work and finishing exams relatively quickly-passing most if not all on the first try. Getting done before you're 30 does not have to completely take over your life the way finishing at 22 does.

There are many of us out there going the slow and steady even some married with kids who will be done before we’re 30.

And Bruce this does not mean I do not think you and your young actuary friends did something impressive or that I do not think you and they are brilliant you probably all are.

[bdschobel]

Everyone has his or her own personal story about the road to Fellowship. I find the really slow people to be every bit as interesting -- maybe more! -- than the really fast ones. We had a 59-year-old FSA last Friday. He was terrific to meet and had a compelling story to tell about his 33-year quest.

Bruce

[Uncle Howie]

Originally Posted by hotkarl

I have met several fellows that had the business sense of a mule.

How many of them got the fellowship at 21?

Originally Posted by hotkarl

Ask Claude how many requests they get for FSAs with 0 experience...my guess is little to none.

And while you're at it ask Claude how many requests he gets for FSAs that are leprechauns. Probably also none. Doesn't mean they won't be offered a job at most of the companies they interview with.

Basically what we have here with Hotkarl is a guy who either got his fellowship at a later than average age, or hasn't gotten it yet, and is afraid of having to work for someone 10 years younger than him. Can't say I wouldn't feel the same if I was in his shoes.

[Swan]

Originally Posted by bdschobel

Everyone has his or her own personal story about the road to Fellowship. I find the really slow people to be every bit as interesting -- maybe more! -- than the really fast ones. We had a 59-year-old FSA last Friday. He was terrific to meet and had a compelling story to tell about his 33-year quest.

Bruce

Wow. Thirty-three-year quest. That, it is interesting to note, also happens to be the average age of new FSA's (or was, until recently). So some of the Fellows that this dude met at his FSA convocation were just being born when he started out writing the exams. Not that that's a bad thing, of course -- as you said, everyone has his or her personal story. Maybe this guy just took a break (a loooooong break) at some point along his path to Fellowship. I also seem to recall another person who took a very long time (something in the neighbourhood of a quarter century, maybe more) to achieve his FSA designation -- it was one of the co-authors of Actuarial Mathematics, the seminal text on life contigencies. I'm sure no one would accuse that guy of being "bad when it comes to passing exams." Well, at least not the course 3 (or M, whatever) exam.

[vjvj]

Originally Posted by Swan

Maybe this guy just took a break (a loooooong break) at some point along his path to Fellowship. D

Or failed M the first 60 tries?

Originally Posted by Swan

I also seem to recall another person who took a very long time (something in the neighbourhood of a quarter century, maybe more) to achieve his FSA designation -- it was one of the co-authors of Actuarial Mathematics, the seminal text on life contigencies. I'm sure no one would accuse that guy of being "bad when it comes to passing exams." Well, at least not the course 3 (or M, whatever) exam.

I'd guess that once someone has passed the first few preliminary exams, they'd be more likely to stop pursuing the designations because of the demand on time rather than because they can't pass the exams. The ASAs I work with are all in that category. They certainly did well enough to get their ASAs, but didn't pursue fellowship primarily because of demands on time (spouse, kids, or just everything other than studying). One, whose kids are now grown up and no longer quite the time drains they'd been, is now considering continuing after about 20 years off.

[bdschobel]

Swan is referring to Don Jones, who holds the record for oldest new FSA at age 69. He was an academic for most of his life, and many academics have a hard time with the Fellowship exams due to their practice-based perspective. After Don retired, he decided to become an FSA and did it without any apparent difficulty.

Bruce

[Abnormal]

Originally Posted by vjvj

...They certainly did well enough to get their ASAs, but didn't pursue fellowship primarily because of demands on time (spouse, kids, or just everything other than studying). One, whose kids are now grown up and no longer quite the time drains they'd been, is now considering continuing after about 20 years off.

In this vein, we always used to joke that you could tell when someone qualified by looking at the age of their oldest child. Clearly that's not universally true, but it is (or at least was) not uncommon.

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by Uncle Howie

And while you're at it ask Claude how many requests he gets for FSAs that are leprechauns. Probably also none.

Maybe from Irish Life?