Description: In physics and engineering education, Fermi problems require solutions based on good approximate calculations with little or no actual data, involving making justified guesses and deducing bounds without using sophisticated tools. The idea of Fermi problems are of particular relevance to today's actuaries, as pricing, reserving, and financial reporting involve more and more complex stochastic components. The paper discusses some approximate solutions developed in academia in the spirit of Fermi problems.

Description: This paper proposes a more generalized Gerber-Shiu G-S function which contains both the G_S expected discounted penalty function and dividends paid up to ruin, as well as many others that have not been taken into consideration in the same systematic way, such as the insurer's accumulative utility, expected total discounted claim expenses, etc. The major result provides a unifying approach for all ruin-related quantities that fall in the category of the generalized GS function. From the Actuarial Research Clearing House, 2008, Vol. 1.