I'm again considering becoming an actuary and I'm not sure why. Here are some reasons, in the order in which they came to me:
1) I want to have a title that means something, like my dad has. He's a DVM; maybe I can become an ASA or even an FSA.
2) I want to be really good at something.
3) I want to be able to support a family including possibly putting my kids through college, save for retirement, ensure that my family's property isn't turned into a housing development, and give lots to charity.
4) Doing what I "love" has always seemed like a pipe-dream. I don't love work. I therefore may as well make decent money working.
Here are some of the reasons not to do it:
1) Staring at a damn computer all day. Sure, dad has a doctorate, but he also gets to drive all over the place and spend plenty of time outside.
2) I may not be very good at it or enjoy it.
3) The exam sequence takes a long time and a studying takes a lot of personal time, which I would rather devote to family and personal interests.
Blah blah blah bling bling bling blah.
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3 comments:
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be able to support yourself... or have a feeling of accomplishment. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have something to show for the days that you go to work ad nauseum (sp?) but if you are going to dread every day sitting in front of a computer screen, you might as well be making granola for a mad woman with a bunch of Puerto Ricans... at least then you would have better stories to tell your kids.
Not that you requested or need my advice. It is what it is and it is not what it is not.
I didn't even know what an actuary is. But now I do, and I want to become one, too! I'm suggestible like that, though. The allure of being able to support a family comfortably, with relative security...? It's huge. HUGE. And very wise to think about before you have children, rather than scrambling to take care of such things once you already have them. Trust me on this one. After ten years of scrambling, I think I'm pretty much an authority on the issue.
Not that you asked for my advice, either. : )
You both surprised me with your comments. I didn't think anyone read this blog, except Virgie.
I vacillate on this issue a lot (i.e. whether I really have the desire or the drive to do this). I've hardly studied for the past two weeks, since it became clear that I will have to push the test to November, unless I want to study on vacation.
Yet this is the course I've plotted, and I will not give up on it until I get an abysmal test score, a psycho boss, or the inability to get up in the morning and go back to that goddamn office.
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