Description: This article discusses errors in spreadsheets, their implications and ways to mitigate them.

Description: A disscussion of actuar R, an R package for actuarial science, and its facilities in the fields of loss distribution modeling, risk theory and credibility theory.

Description: In this article, I will outline the key tools that are found in a digital marketer’s toolbox, briefly explain the broader digital marketing ecosystem, and outline how digital marketers leverage these tools to attract and engage customers within this ecosystem. The goal of this article is to help actuaries in all areas gain a basic level of familiarity of the world of digital marketing, so they can apply this knowledge to product design, systems design, and business valuation.

Description: End-User Computing (EUC) applications (such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and others) provide a great benefit by allowing users to directly manage, control, and manipulate data. Unlike SAP, Oracle, and other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications that facilitate the automated and integrated flow of transactions and data, EUCs are neither ponderous nor difficult to modify. In fact, EUCs allow businesses and users to quickly deploy solutions in response to shifting market and economic conditions, industry changes, or evolving regulations. They can also help plug functionality gaps for ERP systems. Alas, those same elements that make EUCs so appealing (and vital in providing timely information) can also make them challenging to manage and control effectively.

Description: With the decline in traditional defined benefit plans, cutbacks in Social Security already legislated, and further ones possibly needed to maintain solvency, retirees increasingly must rely on their own ability to manage their retirement income. Relatively few retirees purchase annuities, leaving them with investment and distribution decisions concerning their accumulated savings. Increasing life expectancy and improved health at older ages raise the issue of whether people should consider postponing retirement as a way of assuring adequate resources during retirement. During retirement, they face complex issues concerning how to manage various risks. Increasingly, people planning for retirement have access to financial planning software, much of it available over the internet for free. This study, sponsored by the Society of Actuaries and the Actuarial Foundation, assesses the extent to which the retirement planning programs analyzed help users understand post-retirement risks.