FAP Module 1 Updates

I'm still working on the end-of-module exercise of Module 1. Hopefully I'll finish writing the memo and submit it by this week.

Sometimes, you just can't underestimate the power of procrastination. ;)

And when I'm done with this exercise, I'll write more again here.

The Distance Between a 5 and a 6

世上最遙遠的距離，

不是生與死的距離，

不是天各一方，

而是我就站在你面前，

你卻不知道我愛你。---張小嫻

(The longest distance in the world,
it's not the distance of living and dying,
it's not the physical distance that separate us,
it is that I'm standing right in front of you,
and you don't know I love you.)

The few lines above were one of the most memorable things written by Amy Cheung, a popular Chinese writer.

Then I thought, as an actuarial student, the distance between a 5 and a 6 is a very long and significant one too.

This is what's written on the SOA exam result slip:

"The scale of grades runs from 0 to 10. Passing grades are 6 through 10. A grade of 0 does not mean that the candidate received no credit but that he/she had a very poor paper. Similarly, a grade of 10 indicates a very fine paper but not necessarily a perfect one."

So a 6 means a pass and moving on to the next exam, and a 5 means you have to study for the same test over again for the next 4 months. Let say out of 40 questions, if you answer 23 questions correctly, you get a 6. But if you only answer 22 questions correctly, then you get a 5.

What's the difference of the understanding level of the exam material between a 5 or a 6? I don't think there's much of a difference. Probably, it's the factor of luck that makes the difference.

A $1110 textbooks package

I ordered the FAP modules textbooks package from Actuarial Bookstore last Sunday and it arrived yesterday. While opening the packages and unwrapping the books, I felt like I'm opening presents for my birthday! In elementary school, I always remember the time when I received all the textbooks on the first day of school. I liked to flip through the new books while my mom was busy with wrapping the books with sheets of plastic.

While flipping the brand new textbooks, I was so hopeful because a new school term just began. Who knows, a month after, I realized that I did have to study the textbooks and I had to carry those heavy books to school every day, it wasn't fun anymore.

This time, instead of carrying the books around, they will sit in my room and hopefully I will enjoy their company for the next few months and learn something from them. :)

If you want to see further, you need to stand higher

欲穷千里目,更上一层楼 - 王之涣《登鹳雀楼》

You can enjoy a grander sight,
By climbing to a greater height.

Two years ago, during my summer internship, I saw this quote in a co-worker's cubicle. My co-worker said this quote motivated him to pass his actuarial exams faster and sooner.

I was talking to my mom yesterday and we were randomly talking about my career goal and life etc. Somehow, my mom also said something similar to the quote. She said, "more doors will be opened for you once you become a ASA, and even more when you become a FSA.So study hard! It's good that your company is investing so much to you for taking exams."

Every day is a good day- a Chinese poem

春有百花秋有月，
夏有凉风冬有雪；
若无闲事挂心头，
便是人间好时节

There are hundred flowers in the Spring,
a moon in the Autumn,
cooling wind in the Summer,
and snow in the Winter.
If there is nothing bothering your mind,
everyday is a good day.

I just remembered this old Chinese poem that my Chinese teacher in high school once taught us. (I guess I felt a little bit poetic today. :)) This poem is written by a Buddhist monk (无门禅师) in Sung Dynasty (960- 1279 AD).

I think this poem is about positive attitude- always look at the good and enjoyable things in each season. Though I'd write about the heat and pumpkin pie in the Winter and the pool party in the Summer if I write a modern/city version of it. :)

Annuities = DIY Pensions

I read this WSJ article about introducing annuity products to 401(k) plans yesterday. By investing in the annuities, the employee will get regular monthly payments after retirement. The article weighted some pros and cons of getting annuities through a 401(k) plan and it also talked about different kinds of annuities- immediate, deferred, fixed and variable.

In the pension consulting world, the most popular topic is to figure out the next big thing after pension. I believe the 401(k) annuity product is a beginning of many investment products to come when the investment companies/banks/insurance companies are exploring other investment vehicles which offer a similar financial security as pensions.

So what's the next big thing after pension for pension consultants? (Hint: definitely it's not pension.) Though some people believe the favorable attitude of employers and younger employees towards Defined Contribution is cyclical, I don't think there's a come back for pension as the notion of life-time employment with one company becomes a fairy-tale.

Is the pension consulting a sunset industry? It will soon be if the pension consulting doesn't re-invent itself.

What does it take to be an ASA

Loli was amazed that people in the actuarial profession have to keep studying and taking exams after college. Most of my friends don't really understand the process of getting the qualification. So let me make a checklist here:

What does it take to be an ASA (Associate of the Society of Actuaries):

1. Pre-requisite: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Business Law 101, Intro to Accounting and Math Statistics. (Most people have taken these classes in college. The SOA exams don't test you on these things directly, but it's good to have some background knowledge.) (Check!)

2. Preliminary Exams - P, FM, MLC, MFE, C (Check!)

3. 3 VEE (Validation by Educational Experience in Applied Statistical Methods, Corporate Finance, and Economics.) - In order to get the credit in college, you need to get a 'B' or above in those particular classes. (Check!)

4. 8 FAP Modules (Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice) - (Studying in Progress)

5. FAP Exam 1 (testing material from FAP Modules 1-5) -(Going to take it on 12/12/2007)

6. FAP Final Assessments (testing material from FAP Modules 6-8)- (Early next year , hopefully)

7. Associateship Professionalism Course (APC) -(Early next year, hopefully)

It sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? Probably everything that's worth doing, it takes hard work. And you don't just find a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, you do find some gold coins along the way too. (i.e. pay raise for passing the exams) :)

An Early Surprise

I received an email from SOA yesterday.

July 12, 2007
Dear Exam Candidate,
May 2007 Passing Candidate Numbers for Exams P, FM, MLC, MFE, and C are Now Available:

The exam result is supposed to be released today. Luckily I kept the ticket of admission email in my inbox, so I could retrieve my candidate number. I didn't really expect to see my number on the list since I didn’t study wholeheartedly. Yet, on the other hand, my heart was pounding and hoping to see my number appeared on the screen, somehow.

And guess what, I saw it. My number (12914) was on the first page. I even asked my boss to check it for me, just in case that it was my illusion. :)

Yes! The feeling of making progress of something is wonderful. And I’m grateful for the pay raise, it just comes in handy. No, I’m not getting an iphone or a new car (Christen, you know my impulse shopping spree ;)). I need the extra income to support the college tuition of my little brother.

And my dear FAP modules, here I come.

International Assignments

I always fancy about traveling through my work. I want to experience the life of living and working in another city. Yesterday, something came up that shed a light on my dream. I found out the company is in need of a number of analysts to Latin America for an assignment and the minimum of stay is 3 years.

So you may think, “what about the language, Y, you don’t speak Spanish, do you?” Based on what I knew, having the desire to learn the language is good enough for consideration. So I think I can pull if off regardless of the “language barrier”.

Because of the 3 years time period, I don’t think I’ll really apply for this assignment though. (A lot of things can happen in 3 years.) Now I started to imagine about what other international assignments that may come up next. Who knows, maybe Rome for 6 months, Paris for a year and Beijing for 3 months?

Now when I think of that, I am more motivated to learn my stuff well at work and make faster progress in my actuarial exams.

I saw this quote of the day from No Limits Ladies yesterday, “You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.”- Ted Turner

Good with numbers, Good with people

I watched The Pursuit of Happiness over the weekend. There was a scene when Chris Gardner was at the financial area, and he saw a guy came out from a nice sports car. So Chris asked the guy what he did for a living. That guy said he was a stockbroker. Chris asked how he became a stockbroker. And that stockbroker said if he was good with numbers and good with people, he could also be a stockbroker. This gave Chris an inspiration to apply for the intern position at Dean Witter.

So I thought if someone is good with numbers and good with people, he/she can be an actuary too. Just imagine the guy who came out from that sports car was not a stockbroker, but an actuary. Who knows, Chris Gardner might become an actuary instead. With the persistence and determination shown by Chris in the movie, I’m sure he can endure the actuarial exams.

I remembered a piece of advice given by a family friend, who was also someone good with numbers (a fairly successful accountant in the bay area). He told me, “you don’t have to the best of the best (to be successful), but you have to be nice to people.”

When the answers are not at the back of the book

Here's the situation- the previous project manager left the office (for good) abruptly. The higher up consultant is, namely, on top of the 'food chain', and hence not that familiar with the database software. The new project manager was very familiar with the client but not familiar with the database. And I am the only analyst on the team which is responsible for churning out a valuation report.

Because of the above circumstances, I had to figure out a lot of things on my own. (Just like the job description said, "working with minimal supervision.") Sometimes, when I got stuck in the maze of data, I imagined it would be so great if I could just flip to the end of the "data book" (if there's any) and look up the answer. (Just like what I did in the actuarial study manual.)

Of course that was my day-dreaming. Then I realized there are no answers that I can look up in most of the situations in life. I can refer to other people's answers to their problems in their lives from books and from conversations. I can also refer to my previous experiences. But still, to answer my questions, I need to combine all the above with a twist of creativity because every question in life is unique. Though some questions look similar, they are never the same.

The Actuarial Scientist

On Friday, I had a late dinner with some family friends who came from Chicago for their relatives' wedding. While waiting for the food, an "Auntie" asked me what I studied in college and what my profession was. I told her I studied actuarial science and now I'm an actuary who's still taking exams.

And here's part of the conversation:

Auntie: How do you say it again? Ac-tuuu-tuuu- what?

Me: I'm an Ac-tu-a-ry.

Auntie: No, I know that's what you studied. How do you say the profession again?

Me: Ac-tu-a-ry. Let me spell it for you- A-C-T-U-A-R-Y.

Auntie: No, I'm still confused. I thought the profession is called Actuarial Scientist. Right, that's right. You are the actuarial scientist.

Me (in my mind): What? Was she confused with the rocket scientist?

Seriously though, this was my first time hearing people calling me an actuarial scientist. :)

Transformers and the Motor City

I watched the Transformers on Tuesday night. Towards the end, there was a scene when Sam was running into an old, ruined building. I immediately recognized that was the Michigan Central Station. (Yay, Transformers and the motor city, that's a good match :)). I've never been to the station as it was closed in 1988. I've only seen some pictures on the web.

Two weeks ago, I visited the Grand Central Station in NYC. While taking some pictures in the station, I thought, " if Detroit was still as vibrant as in 1920s, the Detroit Central Station may look as gorgeous as the NY Grand Central Station."

And I found out these two stations were designed by the same architect yesterday.

So here's my self-discovery- actually I'm quite interested into the old, historical buildings, especially the Art Deco and Beaux-Arts Classical style. Maybe when I'm done with all the actuarial exams, I might take some urban planning classes.

Hiatus

My internet connection at home has been on and off for the whole week. So I won't be posting for these few days. Once the connection is fixed, I'll be blogging again. :)

Hours you work vs. Hours you bill

Here's a Q&A that tells the essence of my experience working in a consulting firm:

Q: How many hours do you work?
A: Do you mean how many hours I work, or how many hours I bill?

Off tangent: WNBA and modelling

I had two new experiences today. A Gung Fu brother, which was also a photographer needed to take some pictures of Asians for his portfolio. Since he didn't have too many Asian friends, he asked me if he could take some pictures of me. Hence, I had my first experience to be a model, so to speak. No, it's nothing like those pictures you see at the Gap or Banana Republic.

For the entire 3 hours, I was mostly just sitting in front of my friend's laptop and standing next to the stove to pretend I was cooking. (He was trying to take some lifestyle pictures- as in working with computer and cooking at home.)

At the end, when I looked at the pictures, I thought, "Wow, I looked at least 10 times prettier in these pictures... I didn't know I was that beautiful." I know, my comment is full of vanity. ;) A few minutes later, I realised that I have always looked the same. The magic lies in the person who's taking the pictures. A good photographer has the ability to bring out the beauty and charm from any individual.

After 'being a model', I went to watch my first WNBA game. I'm not a big basketball fan, but I was given 4 free tickets two weeks ago at the street fair. Actually I found it more interesting to just people watching at the game.

Anyway, it was an eventful Sunday.

A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step- Confucius

R gave me this bookmark and this is what I was told, "The path to find and fulfill your purpose is a spiritual journey. Just like every physical journey begins with a single step as Confucius said, your spiritual journey consists of many baby steps too. Though you may find the road a bit foggy and you can't see everything clearly, be brave and step forward."

Once in a while, what R said was quite insightful and caught me by surprise. :)