numbers
OF BEING
ACTUARIES weekly, and is low stress.* With only about 20,000 actuaries in the United States, the profession is not widely known by those outside the field. Basically, an actuary is the person who works behind the scenes, usually on behalf of the insurance industry (calculating the risks that underlie the sums charged for premiums) and of employers who need sound data to design pension and benefit plans, evaluate assets and liabilities, and generally deal with risk. Some actuaries do government work, helping ensure compliance with regulatory laws. “You have to love math to do this work,” says Nussbaum, who holds a degree in accounting from EMU and an MBA from Ohio State. “And you need John Mark good analytical think- Nussbaum ’83 ing.” Nussbaum liked his math courses at EMU, but didn’t want to be a math teacher. Unaware of the actuary career option, he majored * “Experienced Fellows have the potential to earn from $150,000 to $250,000 annually, and many actuaries earn more than that,” says the “be an actuary" webpage sponsored by the Casualty Actuarial Society and Society of Actuaries. (Each society has its own exam track.) “It could take from 6-10 years to pass all of the exams, but you can begin a career as an actuary by passing the first two exams, and then taking subsequent exams while working as an actuarial assistant.” In addition to the substantial pay, actuaries hover at the top the career list in terms of satisfaction with work environment, employment outlook, physical demands and stress, according to a Jan. 10, 2010, report in the Wall Street Journal.
in accounting and then spent 25 years numbers.” This led to a permanent job at working for what is now called Everence. Conrad Siegel after Bare graduated. In 2005, he stopped managing Ever“We specialize in consulting for retireence’s portfolios and investments and ment plans, investments, health insurembarked on a new career path by ance plans, and other employee benefits,” becoming an actuarial assistant there. Bare says. “How much do they need In January 2013, just before becoming to set aside? Are they over- or underFellow of the Society of Actuaries, he acfunded?” cepted a position at the headquarters of The Conrad Siegel website puts it this RGA Reinsurance Company in Chesterway: “Employee benefits are all about field, Missouri. numbers. As actuaries, we have those Christopher Wampole also took a cirnumbers down to a science. With that cuitous route to being an actuary. Several knowledge, we craft streamlined soluyears after majoring in math at EMU, he tions to your biggest benefits challenges.” entered the architecture program at Ohio Bare says he enjoys the complexity State. But architecture proved to be less and variety of his work, which may interesting to him than another field range from lawyerly study of the tax he discovered at that university, actucode to doing mathematical calculations arial science. Learning that a motivated to working with person could study on his own and pass programmers on the exams without paying for schooldeveloping internal ing, that’s what Wampole did between software. 2001 and 2007 (which is about as fast as Wampole says his anyone can pass all of the exams – many company typically people take up to 10 years). Erie Insurhires summer interns ance in Pennsylvania hired Wampole and pays them well. Christopher after he passed his first exam, and he has To garner an internWampole ’96 been there ever since. ship, it helps to have Of the three alumni-actuaries, only studied for or passed Trevor Bare took a direct path into his at least one actuarial exam. Wampole work. As a prospective student, Bare met suggests that undergraduates interested with Owen Byer, who would become in this path might find it helpful to form one of Bare’s math professors. Byer suga club, where they could support each gested that the young man’s interest in other as they work through sample actumathematics and economics might make arial exams and course material available him well suited to being an actuary. After online. his junior year at EMU, Bare interned at It won’t be easy, but the reward might Conrad Siegel Actuaries in Harrisburg, be securing “a great job,” says Wampole. Pennsylvania – where the company slo“I really enjoy myself.” gan is “up to the challenge, down to the — Bonnie Price Lofton, MA '04 www.emu.edu | crossroads | 27