[rhizome]

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As for passing the Actuary exams, I realize the level of difficulty but am confident in my mathematical ability (I was doing Calc 1+2 when most kids were learning to plot lines [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]).

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You cannot realize the difficulty of the actuarial exams until you start taking them. Most actuarial students have advanced math skills and yet most fail any given exam.

I have learned that I was pretty lucky -- I took the 1st exam without studying and passed on my 1st attempt after having learned all of the material from other course work in college. I then got a job as an actuarial analyst. Since then, however, it has taken me 11 attempts to pass 4 additional exams -- even though I, too, am confident in my mathematical ability (I never had trouble passing exams in graduate school, got a near perfect SAT math score, etc).

You are also at a disadvantage by starting the exam process at a slightly later stage in life. Once you add other things to your life (working, spouse, children, poker, etc.), it is not going to seem so noble to be spending the weekend reading some study note on the effects the sarbanes-oxley act has had on the documentation of reserving methods.

To me, you sound very naive about the actuarial profession and exam process.

You say that you are concerned about the 2 years it would take to become an MBA -- yet you don't seem to have any concern about the 10 years (on average) it is going to take you to become an actuary (4 years minimium).

I'm not trying to scare you away, but you make it sound like you saw a website that posted actuarial salaries and decided that it would be a good idea to become one. If it were that easy, then there would be a lot more actuaries than there currently are.

Again, good luck -- but based upon your posts in this thread, I really think the MBA track would be better for you.