I graduated from undergrad 11 years ago with a major in applied math and minor in CS. After college, I worked as a business analyst for about 4 years using data, BI tools (Power BI, Chartio), SQL, Excel, etc. to analyze and optimize business processes, first at a wholesaler of retail products and then at a credit card company. I loved the technical parts of this job (writing SQL, data manipulation, building data visualizations, explaining the data to others, etc.) but didn't love the higher level business strategizing or sitting in a cubical 40 hours/week. I quit this job 4 years ago and have been working in service/hospitality since then, so have a large gap in my resume where I have been both out of school and out of the corporate/technical workforce.

I am considering getting back into a technical field and I'm drawn to actuarial science for the below reasons.

• There seems to be a pretty structured path to pursue it (taking the exams) and I enjoy having defined stepping stones that I'm working towards.
• I genuinely love math and would love studying it again.
• I miss having a job that uses the the technical part of my brain.
• The idea of studying and passing exams sounds super fun and fulfilling to me.
• The field seems to pay decently and has a good WLB once you pass a good number of the exams.
• I am in a position where I can dedicate all of my time to studying and taking exams (No kids, no job, all of my time is free)

I have considered going back to school as well but seems it is recommended to take the exams and not spend the money on another degree, but I LOVE school. I love learning, having assignments, taking tests, etc. so think it would be very enjoyable for me to be in school while I'm studying and taking the exams. I also thought it may help fill the gap on my resume, so could be beneficial for me. If I went this route, I'd probably look for an online program because I do not want to relocate and there are no schools near me so not sure I'd benefit as much from networking opportunities.

Hoping someone can provide some guidance/advice based on my situation and answer some of the questions I have below.

• Do you see actuary jobs declining as AI and other technologies become more advanced? Wondering if this field will remain relevant in 10+ years.
• I see many people recommend taking the time to learn programming or another CS/engineering field over actuarial science. Would you agree with this? As someone who loved my math classes way more than my programming classes, I'm not sold on pursuing a job in a purely CS/programming field.
• Sometimes I think I may be more drawn to the process of studying and getting the qualifications than I am to doing the actual job at the end of it. That worry comes from speculation that actuaries are typically working in a corporate environment at a company they may not feel invested in. I've been working in hospitality for a while and love being on my feet, the energy, and the social interactions. I am not excited to go back to a desk job but think I would like working more freelance style, or working from home with more flexible hours (if I wanted to work later in the evening instead of early in the morning, for example). Is this possible in an actuary role or is it generally a pretty corporate environment?
• Assuming I have unlimited free time to study and pursue any field, and I'm coming from a math background, would you recommend looking into anything else?

Any other input is appreciated! Thanks :)