2025 median annual pay
$130,000
Median for the whole occupation, across all experience levels. It is not specific to a level or to Brazil.
Career in 2026 and 2027
Actuary
Actuaries use probability, statistics and financial theory to put a price on uncertain future events, so insurers and pension funds can promise payments they can actually keep. The work moves from fitting models to defending reserves, prices and capital to regulators and executives.
Content reviewed on October 21, 2026
- Levels
- 4
- Skills mapped at Mid-level
- 7
What each level must prove
Mid-level
Accountable for producing reserves, loss models and valuations independently, and for explaining the assumptions behind them.
You run a quarterly reserve review end to end, from loss triangles to an IBNR estimate, and model mortality and lapse with survival methods. Compared with junior, you choose the method and defend it, rather than applying one handed to you.
Average score required: 67%
Survival Models
Why: Lets you estimate lapse or mortality from a study where many policies are still in force, using Kaplan-Meier or Cox, instead of discarding the censored records.
Life Tables & Mortality
Why: Lets you choose and graduate a mortality table for a real portfolio, judging whether Gompertz-Makeham or a select table fits its experience, not just reading a published one.
Life Annuities
Why: Lets you value increasing and deferred annuities with commutation functions for a whole block, and spot when a payment-timing assumption moves the liability.
Loss Distributions & Severity
Why: Lets you build an aggregate loss model and price a deductible or limit using limited expected values, so you can quantify what a policy change does to expected losses.
Reserving Methods
Why: Lets you run chain-ladder, Bornhuetter-Ferguson and Cape Cod on a triangle and explain why they disagree, which is the core of the quarterly IBNR review.
Time Value of Money
Why: Lets you discount cash flows with spot and forward rates instead of one flat rate, so a liability valuation reflects the actual shape of the yield curve.
Interest Rate Models
Why: Lets you generate stochastic interest scenarios with Vasicek or CIR and see how a guarantee or long liability behaves when rates move, beyond a single deterministic path.
Study for Actuary: trails and practice exams
Each level of this career maps to a study trail. Read the full topic map for free, then measure your level.
Market snapshot (United States)
Projected job growth, 2025–2035
+9%
Much faster than average
US occupation used: Actuaries. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, updated August 27, 2026
Two ways to move up one level
12 weeks · intensive
For whoever has a deadline
About 8 hours a week, in 1 cycle focused on the gaps that weigh most.
40 weeks · regular
Alongside work
About 4 hours a week, in 3 cycles. Each cycle carries what was left from the previous one.
Frequently asked questions
What is Actuary?
Actuaries use probability, statistics and financial theory to put a price on uncertain future events, so insurers and pension funds can promise payments they can actually keep. The work moves from fitting models to defending reserves, prices and capital to regulators and executives.
What must each level of Actuary prove?
Actuary is mapped in 4 levels: Junior, Mid-level, Senior, and Expert. Open each level above to see the skills it must prove.
How long does the Actuary plan take?
The plan has 2 paces: 12 weeks per level at about 8 hours a week (intensive) and 40 weeks per level at about 4 hours a week (regular).
How the plan works
AI tutor
A study session on each new topic, at your level.
AI school
Hands-on lessons on using AI in your career's daily work.
Assessments
Each requirement is proven by measurement, not by a checkbox.
Stage review
At the end of each cycle you see what moved and what carries over.
Find out which level you are at
A short diagnostic measures the skills you already have. The journey starts from there.