High earners like dentists, doctors and business executives may be drawn to whole life insurance policies, persuaded by promises of tax-deferred growth and future tax-free loans. But what most don’t know is that these benefits are extremely limited, if not misleading. Tax advisors Andrew Tucker and John K. McGill counsel their clients to carefully consider […]

What do 17th-century pirates, Walt Disney and the U.S. military have in common? They’re the topics of some of the top creative leadership books of 2018, according to Forbes magazine. The list has a strong focus on power and its dynamics, exploring how to overcome biases, create movements and build more creative workplace cultures. From […]

When a potential employer is researching your job history online, it’s likely that one of the top search results will be your LinkedIn profile. How can you ensure that your profile best reflects your qualifications and personality? Personal branding expert William Arruda says it’s important to look at four key factors to make the right […]

With 46 states now allowing the use of medicinal marijuana and nine states approving it for recreational use, cannabis is becoming the new normal. But without the wealth of data that exists on risks like alcohol use, for example, property and casualty insurers are struggling to quantify the liabilities surrounding marijuana. Data from states like […]

As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin continue to become more mainstream, venture capitalists are taking notice. In fact, in London alone, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies attracted £200 million in investments in 2018, more than ten times the previous year’s total. Why is London becoming the European capital for these disruptive industries? And how do Britain’s blockchain, FinTech […]

How can stronger building codes and land use rules better prevent massive property losses? That’s the question from insurance leaders as they contemplate the $160 billion in global economic damage caused by natural disasters in 2018. Even with only half of the losses covered by insurance, insurers paid out $80 billion in claims—nearly double the […]

Actuarial science is often a study of the “bookends of the life”: analyzing and creating data about rates of both birth and death (especially the latter). Interestingly, neither birth rates nor mortality are following simple trends in recent years, with fertility dropping after a long increase and mortality rising after decades of improvement. Actuaries should […]

Whether it’s driven by a life change or a sense of dissatisfaction at a full-time position, nearly every actuary thinks about pivoting to consulting at some point in his or her career. But even actuaries who are now successful consultants were surprised at the professional and personal metamorphosis that consulting required of them. Which new […]

Although many pet owners are now safeguarding pets’ health by buying insurance, some are still taking their chances. This exposes pet owners to potentially predatory costs when pets do become ill, says a reader of Contingencies Magazine. He notes that much like in the human healthcare industry, there’s often a lack of transparency about the […]

For decades, pensions for workers in the UK required little planning or forethought. Defined contribution plans required workers to buy annuities, guaranteeing that they received consistent income after retirement. However, after the UK instituted “freedom and choice” to the plans in 2015, consumers were free to forego annuities—and most many people are simply unprepared to […]