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 session from the 1995 SOA New York City Meeting discusses the factors to review in re-pricing life products, insurers' methods for monitoring in-force business, and the importance of re-pricing in-force business. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 2.