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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.
It does prevent harm. They sell a product which reduces the risk its purchaser is taking, the risk of ruin. Ruin causes harm.
....such a major, and the high income that comes with it, requires a proficiency at math and the ACTUAL proof of ability in objective, rigorous testing...a somewhat higher standard than the plethora of other liberal arts majors like Gender Studies and Medieval Russian Literature which qualify one to be little more than a barista. (And not even that, really.)
-Styopa
The Affordable Care Act gave a very powerful industry - the for-profit insurance industry - even more power by making us all their obligate consumers.
As opposed to letting people suffer and die without insurance? We ALL are going to need health care and that means we all need insurance in some fashing. Only in the US are we too stupid and/or too uncaring to realize that we all have to share the financial burden. If you don't like for profit insurance companies reaping the benefits then you are de-facto arguing for single payer government health care. (unless you are an an asshole who thinks poor people don't deserve health care)
You are an "obligate consumer" of health care whether you want to be or not. The sooner we get out of denial about this fact and share the cost the better off we all will be.
AIs are great if you have this degree. AIs are based heavily on mathematics and statistics. Acturial science is all about mathematics and statistics. Someone has to build these things, and the skills are transferable.
I've long held the view that IT and SW development need to figure out a way to form a professional organization like the one physicians have. A "lite" example of this is the Society of Actuaries, and it looks like they're doing their job. Actuaries have had a very stable career for a very long time. It's not as sexy as slinging ads at Google or Facebook or working at a hip web startup, but it does pay well.
I don't have the math skills to even consider getting into this profession, but it's a very good example of an industry needing very talented people and paying accordingly for them, Insurance companies can go bankrupt if they make bad actuarial decisions...too conservative and they don't make enough money, too risky and they can go broke paying out more claims than they expected.
What I think they do right is similar to what I think the medical profession got right:
Not knowing the industry, however, I do wonder how insurance companies don't just go around the whole thing and hire 25000 Indian number crunchers the same way IT outsourcers "replace" experienced developers and systems engineers. Either the skillset is so esoteric that only the super-intelligent math geniuses among us can do it, or the SOA has the ability to force companies to do what it wants the same way the AMA does in the US.
Not when it comes to food insurance. Voluntary insurance should be for things that are voluntary. Everyone is going to need food at some point and the best way to ensure the best food for the most people is to require everyone to pay into the pot and spread the cost. If you are a bit better off then congrats but you get to pay a bit more to help those who lack the means so we can minimize cost overall.
Not when it comes to housing insurance. Voluntary insurance should be for things that are voluntary. Everyone is going to need housing at some point and the best way to ensure the best houses for the most people is to require everyone to pay into the pot and spread the cost. If you are a bit better off then congrats but you get to pay a bit more to help those who lack the means so we can minimize cost overall.
Not when it comes to clothing insurance. Voluntary insurance should be for things that are voluntary. Everyone is going to need clothing at some point and the best way to ensure the best clothes for the most people is to require everyone to pay into the pot and spread the cost. If you are a bit better off then congrats but you get to pay a bit more to help those who lack the means so we can minimize cost overall.
There are some significant differences between your examples (food, housing, clothing) and healthcare. All three of yours are regular, usually predictable, and generally controllable expenses. I can choose whether to go for the cheaper or more expensive kinds, and when. I can even choose when to make a down payment on a house - an amount of money that would be catastrophic if that expense came up unexpectedly. Health expenses, can come up suddenly and offer me absolutely no choice at all about how, when, or where I incur them.
"The best argument against democracy is a five minute chat with the average voter."
--Winston Churchill