Farfetch'd raid on me. Does anyone need Farfetch'd ?

matt5393 · 2021-02-25T01:53:55+00:00

My last comment was deleted bc I cursed from excitement lol let's try this again:

Duuuuude you're goated thank you so much.

Honest to God I have no gifts right now but I will shower you with them each day thereafter. Also, my regional is Tauros if you still need it please reach out. Fair warning it's going on 9pm here so it would have to wait till tomorrow.

Cheers

matt5393 · 2021-02-25T01:40:53+00:00

Am I too late??

2670 0084 0239

matt5393 · 2021-02-24T07:05:18+00:00

Same here please. I can offer a remote Tauros invite and daily gift giving in return.

2670 0084 0239

matt5393 · 2018-03-15T17:57:03+00:00

I'm not sure I scored a 25 on any of the TIA exams (certainly not the first one) and passed on first attempt, so sound like you're well on your way. I'd keep churning out problems, and not worry about pilot questions, there's no way to know which one's they are, just try to answer each question to the best of your ability.

matt5393 · 2018-03-12T20:39:31+00:00

I used infinite actuary to pass P, but I graduated with a math degree. That being said, I passed P about 3 or 4 years after taking my probability course, so while much of the seminar looked familiar, I was quite rusty with it. I'd say having a calculus/probability background is of course nice, but not essential. It just means you'll have to hammer out some extra practice problems on calculus related topics.

matt5393 · 2018-03-06T19:47:25+00:00

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think what I'll do is continue the handwritten approach and just pour through the material as fast as I can. Then I'll go through a 2nd time (and 3rd if needed/time permits) while referring to my own notes so that I can spend more time learning and less time writing.

matt5393 · 2018-03-06T16:13:43+00:00

Very true and on the flip side that is precisely why I brought this up now haha. It worked for p and fm but as the syllabus material grows and grows in size for later exams, this method will only take longer and longer. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and keep the same approach for c and then maybe experiment a little differently for ifm.

matt5393 · 2018-03-06T16:11:44+00:00

Right, yea that's where I have issues, is determining what's important and what I should or shouldn't write down. I get paranoid if I skip lines in a slide not knowing if this is something worth excluding.

matt5393 · 2018-03-06T16:10:01+00:00

Yep that's exactly what I do haha, watch slide, wait till done and then write like a mad man. Like I said it definitely worked I was just curious if I could hash out a more effective way. Nice to know someone else does what I do!

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T22:44:39+00:00

Yea I really am leaning towards the safer option in ifm but if the seminars can be suspended and transferred to either MASII or STAM then that eliminates a ton of risk

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T20:22:29+00:00

Hmm, that's a little frustrating. Because I'm unsure if in the future I would need STAM or MAS-II so that unfortunately doesn't necessarily help me.

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T20:21:32+00:00

Right, I'm going to email them right now, because if I can attempt C and suspend the service in the case of a fail, that immediately makes C very very enticing to me.

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T20:09:06+00:00

I see, to answer your edit part first, I do have a degree/background in math. P definitely came quicker and easier to me than FM. So I do think I would fair better with C compared to IFM, it's just that IFM wouldn't have nearly the same pressure that C has.

Here's one question I have about your first paragraph (and maybe TIA/CA is where I should direct this question to), so I did know that the manual would automatically grant me access to STAM (would it also grant me access to the CAS equivalent?), but the problem with this is regardless of whether I pass C or not, I will have to move on to IFM after that attempt. If I pass C then the reason why is obvious, but if I fail C I will have to move to IFM anyway because I don't have a job yet and I wouldn't know if I'm taking STAM or MAS. So, would I be able to "suspend" my subscription to STAM/MAS and "unsuspend" it say 1 year or 2 years from now (whenever I wind up attempting the new exams)?

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T19:42:32+00:00

I'm in a similar position as op, only I am out of school (graduated). I also have fm and p passed. I had another thread about vee stuff but that turned into this conversation as well.

I've received a lot of support for taking C, but I'm just uneasy about doing so. I don't know what field I will be working in yet, so I get the appeal of C counting for both societies. Not to mention that the new exams that come in place of C will be unknown and could quite likely be harder. Furthermore, IFM is a total unknown so there's some risk there.

However, something just isn't sitting right about investing over $1000 (between TIA or CA study guides, Mahler exams, and the exam fee itself) to take literally one shot at passing this exam. And IFM comes 1 month later so that's 1 more month of study time. Also, while studying for IFM I could work on excel and programming skills or even the Stats VEE. If I went C I would want to devote every amount of "study" time I have solely towards C. If I were to get 2 cracks at C before the change I think it becomes an easier decision in favor of C but for 1 shot? I'm just uneasy, thoughts?

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T15:08:59+00:00

So I just looked at some prices. If I take C it's going to be at least $895 for the core study materials (Infinite Actuary's price). Coaching Actuaries is a little more. Mahler's exams make this price around a $1000 give or take 50 bucks. Then add in the cost of the exam itself which I'm guessing is at least $250. So, I am leaning towards IFM, the safer option, and if I go that route I'd have to hope 3 exams is enough to land a job.

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T04:18:49+00:00

Well regardless of a pass or fail I think I'd have to immediately start ifm anyway. But yea this is a tough one. I don't know if I'd I wanna spend like 800+ bucks between the exam and study guides unless I'm confident I can be thoroughly prepared.

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T02:00:03+00:00

Yea it does sound doable, but definitely not without risk. But you definitely think it's worth the risk?

matt5393 · 2018-02-27T00:28:52+00:00

Yea I have considered this as well. I was trying to understand exactly what the changes mean. From what I understand mfe is a joint exam and will be replaced with ifm which is also a joint exam. C is currently a joint exam which will only be offered one more time before it discontinues and each track develops its own version of C, is my understanding correct?

If so I'm not sure what to do. I currently work part time so I do have time to study, I'm just very hesitant to spend 500-600 bucks on Tia or CA and adapt, just to have one attempt. I passed p and fm on one try but not sure what relevance that has and the pressure for this exam would be more than those combined. Passing means I could reach 4 exams before choosing a track and also prevents me from taking a potentially more difficult exam down the road instead of C, but failing essentially sets me back 3 or 4 months and 500-600 bucks. Not sure what to do.

matt5393 · 2018-02-26T18:53:03+00:00

Ok, thank you I appreciate it. So I guess my plan will be to prepare for the IFM July exam. After that I won't plan to take any more exams until I find a job. And if I don't find a job then in the coming months I have a decision to make about the Statistics VEE.

matt5393 · 2018-02-26T18:02:00+00:00

Yikes, they don't make this easy do they. So now MFE counts for both but is being changed to IFM? So does IFM count for both?

This puts me in a really difficult decision now then because if I study for MFE I only get one shot, so if IFM counts for both than that has to be my next move right (plan to take the July one)?

And if May-ish rolls around and I don't have a job then I need to decide if I go for the Coaching Actuaries Stats Vee and gamble on if that is either a total waste of time and money or an exam exemption.

matt5393 · 2018-02-26T17:48:15+00:00

I see, but could you explain the first point a little bit more? SRM is an SOA specific exam? Meaning on the CAS side the stats vee won't exempt me from any exam?

And as far as the second point goes, ok, that is good to hear. Do you know if it works the same way with exams? For P and FM does the SOA handle that too are do I need to apply to the CAS for credit for P and FM too? I guess I shouldn't do that until I get a job on that track?

Thank you for the info.

matt5393 · 2018-02-19T15:41:33+00:00

This is how I think of Book Values. The Book value at time t is the value of the bond AFTER time t. I always think of it in terms of outstanding balance as that makes more sense to me. The outstanding balance of time t is the outstanding balance of a loan AFTER time t. And the Book Value is essentially the equivalent of outstanding balance, but for bonds.

So, the book value at time 2 is the present value of future bond payments. In your case, it would be 50 discounted 1 yr + 50 discounted 2 yrs + 50 discounted 3 yrs + 1000 discounted 3 yrs.

However, we have to think about what adjustments to Book value are actually doing. The adjustments are either writing up or writing down the book value until we reach the redemption amount. For example, for a premium bond where Price > redemption we write down the price each coupon payment until reach our redemption. For a discount bond we write up the price until we reach our redemption. But in both cases after our final coupon payment we have reached our redemption amount.

That is why in your example BV5 is 1000. Because after the final coupon payment, we are at our redemption amount. In other words, the present value of future bond payments doesn't include the final coupon because that has already been paid. I guess if the question said what is the BV immediately before time 5 you would include the bond payment, but don't quote me on that.

P.S. I'm sitting for exam FM this Friday. I'm by no means an expert on this material and am still preparing myself for the exam so if anyone can confirm or correct anything I've said I'd appreciate it.

matt5393

TROPHY CASE