The Best Job in the America: an Actuary.
By Krzysztof Ostaszewski

What job is the best in America - a doctor? A gynecologist in Florida may pay malpractice insurance premium of as much as 750,000 dollars a year. After medical school you would owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, then you have to take an apprenticeship for low pay, and when you finally start to make good money, then you have to deal with a job with constant pressure from work or the federal government, lawyers and insurance companies. You were supposed to have millions, but all you have is constant hardship at work and stress.

Or maybe a lawyer? But are you sure that every lawyer makers lots of money and litigates in court like Perry Mason? No, once you get through the hard work in law school and pass the bar examinations, then you still have to succeed in a practice, walking around prisons
to see your clients, chasing ambulances, and even then you don't always make it. And getting out of law school you will almost never see a good paying job right from the start, so your student loans will accumulate more interest.

Well then maybe a stock broker in a suit, looking good, chasing clients, smooth talking, driving a BMW... The only problem is that an average broker falls out of the business within half a year. It's not easy to sell.

Maybe a computer programmer? It is a good job - if you reside in India, because that's where many, many programming jobs are going.

Maybe an engineer? These jobs are being express-shipped to China.

Actuary - the number one job.

For many years the number one job, and sometimes the number two job (for some odd reason) it is and it will be the job of an actuary. This is a great job. You start your career right after getting out of college. Companies are very competitive when it comes to fighting over graduates. There are no unemployed actuaries. Firms help you grow and encourage studying in order to get promoted. Promotions are completely independent from office politics. You finish school with no debt and very often you can get scholarships paying for all of your schooling or sometimes even more. Universities are looking for
students heading in this direction.

You need mathematics.

You need to learn math and how to apply it in business. Math - the subject which typical American school does not teach well. That means that people who have the talent to be mathematicians are needed and actuaries have to be paid well. An average actuary with all of his/her credentials makes about $150,000 a year. If an actuary becomes the president of an insurance firm (and there is a good chance of that) then the pay goes up to one and a half million dollars.

The most mathematical discipline in business is insurance. Actuaries deal with the mathematical models used in figuring out insurance rates and retirement plans. Based on these models the companies SET the premiums and insurance  reserves.

Where can you find out more?

Information about the job of an actuary can be found at 
www.BeAnActuary.com

Main organizations of Actuaries in the U.S.:
Society of Actuaries:  www.soa.org
Casualty Actuarial Society: www.casact.org

I run a program of teaching actuaries at the Illinois State University and information for it can be found at www.IllinoisState.edu/actuary. For a resident of Illinois it is about
$3,000 per SEMESTER. We have scholarships for those that want to take their studies seriously - and we are right next door to the biggest insurance company in the U.S. - State Farm, who gives us a substantial sum of money for scholarships. A list of schools that have programs for actuaries can be found at: http://www.soa.org/ccm/content/?categoryID=1260076

If you have gifted kids, please think about this. A life without financial problems. Peace of mind. A regular nine-to-five job that pays $150,000 a year. The only thing you have to do is to study mathematics: the Queen of Sciences.