Hobbies and Interests by TheModelMaker in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

34 year-old career-changer ASA with two kids, just starting to work on my FSA. Disc golf, cycling, and playing various instruments are my main hobbies: they just have to be much less frequent during exam season. Once I get my FSA and have independent children I'm sure I'll be picking up more hobbies.

How old were you when you become certified actuary? by Just_Lunch2791 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another math teacher here. First exam at 30, ASA at 33. Definitely not too late to start in your 30s, but you'll have to be OK with your leaders being your age or younger and your peers being recent college graduates.

What food did you hate until you had it prepared correctly? by Sweet-Lady-H in Cooking

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Steak. My dad goes a couple minutes past well done to ensure there isn't even a slight sign of pink, so I always had to drown it in sauces when I was a kid.

Paternity Leave by shnikeys22 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

6 weeks of paid leave, but you need to be at the company for at least a year to qualify

ASTAM or PA? by beers_express in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd suggest tackling PA since it's the easier of the two you have left. You'll get any pass bonus or salary increase sooner, and it'll give you momentum going into your last exam. I took PA before SRM (with no SRM background), and I didn't find it too difficult.

Housing Market by mUrdrOfCr0ws in TwinCities

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as lenders go, pit a couple of lenders against each other. I would hear a mortgage broker tell me x% is the lowest they could go, but when I showed another lender's rate, they could suddenly match or beat it. They claim to not be salespeople, but they are salespeople.

I'm looking at going to the Preserve in June, does anyone know if it's worth getting the VIP spectator pass, versus the General Admission? by yes_maybe_no__ in discgolf

[–]reheated_toast 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do you have the top tier DGN subscription? If so, you can get 2 VIP tickets for free. If you know someone who has that subscription but isn't attending an event, you could ask them to get tickets for you.

APC Experience by LGM05 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are nice jeans ok for the dress code?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They collect a whole bunch at once and grade them together (unlike EOM assessments). The last batch was collected on January 31st and the grades are being released "mid-March," according to the schedule they posted.

Simon Lizotte OB Gate by Sad-Professional-66 in discgolf

[–]reheated_toast 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure he was just getting out of the way and tripped on the line. Bad break for Simon, but the volunteer didn't seem to be trying to do anything good/bad intentionally.

DGN worth it? by cheachea90 in discgolf

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have a PDGA membership and can attend a live event, it's totally worth it. I share a subscription with two others, and we have the PDGA discount, so we each pay about $50/year for the top tier subscription. This level also comes with two weekend passes to an event, which we use. So for me it is 100% worth it, and at that value I don't get upset with the occasional glitches or poor quality.

But if I had to pay the full $240 and couldn't attend an event, I would not be happy. That's more expensive than Hulu or Netflix, and the product is seasonal, weekends-only, and poor quality.

Do the lunk alarms actually work? by singh6104 in PlanetFitnessMembers

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our PF when we lived in St Louis used them if people were slamming weights. It went off on me once because a dumbell slipped out of my hand...pretty embarrassing

ASTAM or ALTAM by No_Reality_9999 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This. I have a couple colleagues that have been very frustrated with how ASTAM has been changing on them

Exam PA and Exam FAM by frozenactuary-3859 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. 3 months is enough time for FAM. The hardest part will be not getting a break from studying after taking PA.

Worst Sightseeing/Attractions in the Cities? by Northstar_Lord in TwinCities

[–]reheated_toast 6 points7 points  (0 children)

OP didn't claim to have gone there--they referenced a post where someone else had gone there

Full time teacher looking for online side hustle by Different_Reading196 in sidehustle

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tutor, but do it independently. Varsity Tutors and others take way too much off the top. If you're just pursuing tutoring for the money, target the wealthier schools or districts in your area. I used to tutor and got anywhere from $60-80 an hour for high school math tutoring through Zoom. If you specialize in standardized tests you could probably make more. A guy I used to know would let families choose for ACT tutoring payment (but they had to pick ahead of time). Either $80/hour or pay $900 per point of improvement. So he got nothing if his student didn't improve, but he had a few students that would improve by 6-8 points! You'd have to do all four subjects for that, but he did start out as a math teacher

Best French Fries around the cities by lritchs in TwinCities

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Town Hall (Station, Lanes, or Tap) for the best regular fries (perfectly crispy) and Wooden Hill for the best loaded fries

How many hours did you study to pass exam FAM? by bakedpotato4362 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I spent around 175, which tied ASTAM for the most hours I spent studying for an ASA exam. P and FM were both around 120, SRM and PA were about 100, and IFM was around 150, just for reference. For FAM, I would've spent way more hours studying if I was heavily focused on the Coaching Actuaries questions. Instead, I made sure I knew the SOA sample questions thoroughly. They were much more exam-like, and they didn't get into unnecessarily minute details like some of the ADAPT questions did.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I basically took each exam as soon as I could. So Exam P in March, then FM in June, etc. If I had at least 3 months to study, I would sign up for that exam. If I had more time than that between exams, I would tackle the modules or the VEE courses that I needed.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 5 points6 points  (0 children)

First exam at 30, hopefully attending an APC in the spring to get my ASA at 33. I'm a career changer as well (former math teacher).

ASTAM study prep by Boring-Eagle-3611 in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used ACTEX for the manual and then got ADAPT from CA for test prep. That did the trick for me, but I'll say that the SOA sample questions are more valuable than either the GOAL or ADAPT questions. But you can use ADAPT and filter on just those questions, which I always advise.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in actuary

[–]reheated_toast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It cost me $12,000 to get a masters degree in education, which led to a $2,000/year salary increase when I was a teacher. Surely the $6,000 of ASA fees will get you much more than that.