2014 – No more paper

July 15th, 2014

As in prior years, I decided to go totally electronic for this year’s seminar.

I am updating the 2013 handouts and practice problems for 2014. I expect to have this finished this week. Then I will update the three HUGE PDF files in Section A.4 of the online seminar.

Updates

2013 – No more paper

May 9th, 2013

Just like 2012, I decided to go totally electronic for this year’s seminar.

Everything is contained in PDF files, and I have made it easy for you to print all the materials. I consolidated the PDFs into three HUGE files. You’ll need to buy a BIG binder. This year’s stack of paper clocks in at about 2,600 pages.

I will start updating the 2012 overheads and practice problems for 2013 in June.

Updates

Solutions to examples in overheads

October 8th, 2012

I just posted a ZIP file with PDFs for all the examples in the EA-2A seminar overheads. This gives you a nice typewritten version, instead of the handwritten ones.

Updates

Updates – 2009 and 2010 exam solutions

September 14th, 2012

I have started updating various sections of the seminar. I am recording solutions to both the 2009 and 2010 exams. When I update the recordings of the exam solutions, I also update the corresponding PDF file.

I recently updated the discussions for the following sections:

  • B.2.2.2.b – Cost methods – Entry Age Normal
  • D.2.1.b – G/L Aggregate Solutions – Part 2
  • D.2.1.c – G/L Aggregate Solutions – Part 3
  • D.2.2.d. – G/L Individual Solutions – Part 4
  • D.2.2.e. – G/L Individual Solutions – Part 5

Updates

Updates at 09-06-2012

September 7th, 2012

I made numerous revisions to the online seminar materials:

  • Updated overheads to reflect the renumbering of the 2012 exam conditions
  • Updated summaries of prior exam problems to include the 2011 exam
  • Corrected errors in several practice problems
  • Added outline of IRS Notice 2011-96 on model amendments for IRC 436 restrictions
  • Corrected errors in 2010 exam solutions

I added a ZIP file with all the changes to the Introduction section of the seminar. I am uploading revised seminar discussions for several overhead pages.

Updates

2011 exam solutions – completed

August 31st, 2012

I have completed the 2011 exam solutions. I uploaded the PDF file to the Infinite Actuary web site.

If you did not take the 2011 exam last year, I recommend that you NOT look at the 2011 exam yet – save this file for future reference.

Set up a reminder to go off on October 20, 2012. This gives you time to learn the EA-2A materials first. About a week before the 2012 exam, you should take the 2011 exam as your “final exam”.

Updates

2012 EA-2A syllabus released

August 20th, 2012

The 2012 syllabus is now available on the SOA web site:
http://www.soa.org/files/edu/edu-jbe-booklet.pdf

Here is a rundown of the various changes …

Excludes changes due to MAP-21

Suggested Readings now includes ERISA section 206(g). This is nothing new, since section 436 of the Internal Revenue Code has provisions that are parallel to the provisions in section 206(g) of ERISA.

Cutoff date for Internal Revenue Code is May 31, 2012

One item was added to the reading list:

Added new exam condition 45, which is the same as EA-2B exam conditions 31 and 32:
(45) Unless otherwise specified, AFTAPs have been certified on a timely basis. The plan has provisions for automatically restoring accruals ceased due to the application of IRC section 436, to the extent permitted by regulations, and the plan’s actuary has provided the required certification to permit such restoration.

Renumbered prior exam conditions 45-56

Updated table of limits for 2012

Updates

IRC 436 overheads

August 3rd, 2012

Somehow these were left out of the files I posted to Section A of the online seminar on July 31, 2012. I have updated the complete set of overheads to include IRC 436. I also added a new file with only the IRC 436 seminar overheads, plus some IRC 436 practice problems.

Updates

2012 Seminar materials – updates finished

July 31st, 2012

I have finished updating many of the IRC 430 and IRC 416 practice problems for 2012. I also made some minor revisions to a few of the outlines, as well as revisions to the 2010 exam solutions. I updated the Introduction (Section A of the seminar) to reflect the 2012 files.

Updates

Announcing the TIA forum

July 6th, 2012

We are very excited to announce the launch of the TIA forum!

In the past, using TIA to study for exams has been a relatively solitary endeavor.  You watched the videos, worked the problems, and occasionally emailed your instructor for assistance.  If you prefer to learn that way, then don’t worry, you can still do it that way.  Think of the forum as an additional (and optional) way to enhance your learning.  You might just browse other student’s questions, and decide to give it a try later on.

Although a few TIA members have gone out of their way to interact with others by posting on the Actuarial Outpost or other public forums, the TIA forum makes it incredibly easy for all of us to interact with other members.  Any time you have a question or a topic for discussion, you can immediately enter the subject forum and make your post.  Everyone else that is subscribed to the seminar will see that there is a new post in that subject forum, and can respond immediately, seconding or answering your topic.  Watch the short video posted in the “Introduction” section of the course to see how the forum works.

Making your experience at TIA more interactive will result in much more powerful and effective learning.  But another terrific aspect of the forum is that it will act as a growing and changing knowledge base of answered questions.  As your instructor, I’ve found that I answer the same question by email many times.  The forum will allow me to post answers to questions in a way that will remain readily available to all seminar users.  After a while, you’ll find answers to many of your questions instantly in the forum, instead of needing an email response.

But the forums aren’t just for my answers to questions.  As you probably know, there is no better way to test your knowledge than to try to answer the questions that other learners ask.  You should try to answer the questions that other members post as often as you can.  Other members can chime in to ask more about your answer too, and I’ll be keeping an eye on things to make sure that all the questions receive accurate and useful responses.

As always, we want your learning experience here at TIA to be a positive one.  When interacting with each other on the web, please be sure to maintain a cheerful attitude and encourage your fellow learners.  Feel free to immediately flag any post that you feel would discourage anyone from interacting.

The forum is open now, so go ahead and watch the introduction video and get started!

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