vi • MARTIN H. RUBY
But my friend’s question kept ruminating in my head. Could actuaries help individuals? That simple question was an awakening for me. My “a-ha mo- ment,” so to speak. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak to my personality. I love trying things no one has tried before. I realized I could use my actuarial expertise to help individuals instead of corporations. It became my mission and my passion. In 2001, I founded Stonewood Financial with the goal of bring- ing actuarial expertise to everyday savers. And while I love helping savers one at a time, this book is my way of helping savers well beyond my clients and friends. Many people have their own doctor, their own CPA, or even their own attorney. Why not have your very own actuary? Well, now you can. Help from an Actuary? An actuary is someone who uses math and statistics to analyze the financial consequences of risk. You’ll find our fingerprints on almost all insurance and financial products. Have you ever won- dered how your health insurance company determines your pre- mium each year? At some point in the process of designing the policy, an actuary had to calculate the cost of covering your risk of getting sick, getting injured or dying. If the insurance policy protects your property, such as your home or car, an actuary had to crunch the numbers and predict the odds of your home burning to the ground, or your car being involved in an accident. Wherever you find risk, you’ll find actuaries. Actuaries certainly have a stereotype: we’re the geeks of the math world. As one comedian put it: “Actuaries were invented so accountants would have somebody to make fun of.” In a way, we are. Actuaries love numbers. And the thing about numbers is they don’t lie. They are absolute. If Johnny has an apple stand and sells five apples a day for three days, he will have sold fifteen apples. Case closed. There is no way to spin that. Life may
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