Actuarial Mathematics for Life Contingent Risks (International Series on Actuarial Science)

The math

Not sure why people are giving this book 5 stars. Have they done any of the exercises? I bought this book with the solutions manual to prepare myself for LTAM. The exercises in this book are plagued by inconsistencies.Some exercises in the sections regarding insurance benefits, annuities, policy reserves, pension mathematics, and profit testing have answers that are different from my calculations. It's frustrating because I can't tell if my results are genuinely wrong or if the exercise has an error. Many of the inconsistencies show my results being off by amounts that would be considered insignificant (e.g. 4,123 versus 4,067), but that inconsistency could still hide an issue with my own calculations.The exercises constantly switch between using the tables in the appendix and asking readers to use the survival model in tandem with an interest rate other than 5% (which is difficult to calculate by hand because it's Makeham's Law). Let's be honest, only chapters 2 and 3 are allowed to ask readers to use the survival model instead of the table.It's also difficult to report errors to the authors. The website that goes along with this book has no means to report errors and I can't find a way to contact the authors through a google search (I live in the US by the way). There are some corrections in the errata, but there are very few. If I could report the errors, the errata would be a full page by now.I don't think the exercises in this book are mindful of people who attempt them. It's obvious that the exercises were created by different people and there wasn't enough effort to peer review them. I did enjoy reading about the concepts in the book though.

Bought this text to study for the new SOA Exam, FAM. The book has been very helpful and it is well written. Explanations and examples are very good.My knock has nothing to do with the content. It’s about the condition in which the book arrived. The top corner of the binding is ripped. Disappointed since I ordered and paid for new condition.Unfortunately, exam is too close to exchange for better condition.

It’ll work, but it came to me with the cover unattached from the spine. I’ve been charged for damages on rental textbooks that were damaged by someone else before so that’s the only reason I’m documenting this in a review.

Buying secondhand is good for the environment. It all reads the same. This was as expected and arrived quickly, no complaints.