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Actuarial Science Ranked As Most Valuable College Major (bloomberg.com)
According to a new report from Bankrate, actuarial science, the formal term for the study of insurance, was ranked the most valuable college major.
"The actuarial science profession is interesting because students don't need advanced degrees to gain livable wages, but instead are certified through a series of exams overseen by the industry's professional organizations," said Bankrate.com analyst Adrian Garcia in an interview. "Students typically pass one to two of these exams while in school and then go on and complete others while working, earning raises and bonuses as they pass." Bloomberg reports: Actuarial science majors earn an average annual salary of $108,658 and have a better-than-average unemployment rate at 2.3 percent. And at a time when student debt is at a record high, these graduates are less likely to incur the added expense of additional schooling and delayed earning potential. Less than 1 in 4 graduates pursue advanced degrees. The study ranked 162 majors with labor forces of at least 15,000 people based on average annual income, employment status and whether those graduates went on to pursue a higher degree within 12 months. Income accounted for 70 percent of the weighted ranking, unemployment for 20 percent and 10 percent was awarded to career paths that did not demand additional education. The data was derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2016 American Community Survey.
"The actuarial science profession is interesting because students don't need advanced degrees to gain livable wages, but instead are certified through a series of exams overseen by the industry's professional organizations," said Bankrate.com analyst Adrian Garcia in an interview. "Students typically pass one to two of these exams while in school and then go on and complete others while working, earning raises and bonuses as they pass." Bloomberg reports: Actuarial science majors earn an average annual salary of $108,658 and have a better-than-average unemployment rate at 2.3 percent. And at a time when student debt is at a record high, these graduates are less likely to incur the added expense of additional schooling and delayed earning potential. Less than 1 in 4 graduates pursue advanced degrees. The study ranked 162 majors with labor forces of at least 15,000 people based on average annual income, employment status and whether those graduates went on to pursue a higher degree within 12 months. Income accounted for 70 percent of the weighted ranking, unemployment for 20 percent and 10 percent was awarded to career paths that did not demand additional education. The data was derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2016 American Community Survey.
Yeah, it pays well and if you are good at math, it is easy, but actuarial science is in some sense the dullest, most boring and saddest field in applied math, since you usually do the additional certifications while you are already employed in an insurance company (similar to certifications for system administrators), which in turn means, that you probably hold a degree in math or physics. Here in Germany that usually means at least a MSc, but usually a PhD. And then you go back to undergraduate level statistics, which again is pretty much high school mathematics.
But it pays well, has almost 100% job guarantee and usually means very manageable work conditions with many benefits, which is everything you wish for after working in academia.
Switched from a B.S. in computer science to actuarial science in the business school. Worst decision i probably every made except it did wonders for my gpa and I learned a lot of practicle knowledge about finance and insurance. After losing a year of science coursework i ended up with a BBA and 10 years of exams to pass. My first exam covered Calc I, II, III, linear algebra, differential equations, and sequence and series all of which I took as a CS major. That's been a long time and things have probably changed. Passing score was totally controlled by society of actuaries to limit the number of people in the field and how far you progess. After making it through that entry exam i had about 8 more to go from probability and statistics to numerical analysis to to specific insurance exams if you are doing the CAS track. After working for a property and casualty company and going to an actuarial convention in Chicago i decided doing loss ratio triangles and filing rate increases was just too dry for me. Went back to graduate school to get a master's in computing and doubled my salary after graduation. There is definitely a career available to those who want to go into the actuarial field but working for insurance companies might not be terrible exciting for many. One perk of being an actuary is potentially how close you work with the CFO and other executives. Most of the math you master isn't used in the job. If you make it to a fellow you can make multiple 6 figures but it takes a long time and is a pyramid in structure since the exam pass rate is a controlled thing. Some of the more interesting work i think is in the reinsurance and maritime insurance sectors. https://www.casact.org/admissions/process/
You probably wont get the payout you are expecting. Insurance operates on a "Made Whole" premise. That means you will be as well off as you were before.
Unless the market value of your house has increased to 400k, you will not get 400k. You will get the value of that house. In the case of your house, you can expect the combined value of the debt and equity; but not more. The reason is to make you whole, or in the same financial place as you were before the loss.
That being said, there are some exceptions. If the value of the house has risen, or in the case of extremely low priced homes. As a example close to my home, You may have heard about the fires in Northern California this year. My father is in the habit of, makes a hobby of, house restoration and flipping. There was a house that he had paid 30K for (cash price in an unusual situation). It burnt in that fire. Because there is no possibility of another house being purchased at 30K he received about 75k, the value of a similar house in a similar market. That is close to what he expected from a sale, so it was the amount needed to "make whole."
So, while there are a few odd exceptions, in general you will not profit significantly from an insurance payout. Unless you have a lot of equity, you will not get enough to pay off a large current loan, and make a cash purchase of a similar house.