Two free exercise banks for your SOA journey 📚

Over the past few years, I’ve watched many actuarial students do the “right” things—buy a manual, watch videos, grind practice problems—yet still feel unsure when the questions stop looking familiar. The gap is rarely intelligence or effort. It’s usually depth: being able to translate a word problem into a clean model, choose the right tool, and execute under time pressure.

That’s why I built two open-access online books—both free, both intentionally packed with exercises, and both designed to support the way the Society of Actuaries exams actually feel: concept-driven, calculation-heavy, and unforgiving to shallow memorization. 🙂

The books are FutureProof FM (Financial Mathematics) and FutureProof MLC (Mathematics of Life Contingencies). They are not “courses,”—just structured learning material meant to be useful, practical, and reusable.

1) FutureProof FM: interest theory that becomes automatic ✅
If you are preparing for SOA Exam FM, you already know the core challenge: it’s not just formulas—it’s recognizing cashflow patterns quickly (and accurately), and staying consistent with timing, rates, and conventions. SOA describes Exam FM as covering foundational financial mathematics and applications such as valuing cashflow streams, loans and bonds, and related topics. (soa.org)

FutureProof FM is built to help you develop that “automaticity” through repetition with variety:

• Short concept sections that aim to be just enough theory
• Worked examples that model clean setups
• Many exercises (from straightforward to exam-style) so you can practice pattern recognition
• A learning flow that encourages “set up first, compute second” (the exam rewards this)

Link: https://fm.finmath.io/

2) FutureProof MLC: life contingencies you can actually use 🧠
Life contingencies is where many students first encounter actuarial math that feels truly actuarial: survival models, contingent cashflows, product structure, and multi-step reasoning. This content is directly relevant to the long-term contingent payment modeling side of the SOA pathway.

SOA positions Exam FAM as assessing actuarial methods for both short-term and long-term modeling, including contingent payment models and their applications. (soa.org) And if you go further, SOA describes Exam ALTAM as an assessment of advanced knowledge of contingent payment models. (soa.org)

FutureProof MLC is designed to support that progression by emphasizing:

• Clear modeling steps (what is random, what is conditional, what is deterministic)
• Practical notation discipline (because sloppy notation becomes wrong answers)
• Exercises that force you to interpret benefits/premiums/reserves as cashflows contingent on survival/death
• A problem ladder: basic EPVs → premiums → reserves → product variations and “twists”

Link: https://mlc.finnath.io/

Why I’m emphasizing exercises (and not “content”) 🔍
Most candidates don’t fail because they didn’t read enough. They struggle because they didn’t convert enough problems into muscle memory—especially the ones that require (1) setup, (2) conditioning, and (3) clean algebra.

Also, SOA has adjusted FAM exam structure in recent years (for example, changes beginning with the November 2024 administration reduced the number of questions while keeping the exam time the same). (soa.org) In plain terms: you should expect fewer questions, more time per question, and therefore more multi-step reasoning per item. That environment rewards depth over speed tricks.

A practical way to use the books for exam preparation (a simple weekly operating rhythm) 📅
Here is a routine that works well for many students—especially if you are balancing classes, internships, or a full-time role:

• Step 1 (Learn): read a short section and summarize the key idea in 3–5 lines (your own words).
• Step 2 (Do): solve 10–20 mixed problems, but don’t rush—write full setups.
• Step 3 (Review): correct actively: “What did I assume? What did I miss? What pattern should I recognize next time?”
• Step 4 (Re-test): re-attempt missed problems 3–7 days later (spaced repetition beats cramming).

If you’re using a separate question bank or coaching platform, great—these books are meant to complement that. Use FutureProof FM / MLC as your “concept + structured drill” backbone, and your question bank for timed mixed sets.

What these books are (and what they are not) 🤝
They are:

• Free, open-access learning materials
• Structured, exercise-heavy, and written with exam usability in mind
• Suitable for self-study or as a supplement to a university course

They are not:

• Official SOA materials (always treat the SOA syllabus as the source of truth)
• A guarantee of passing (your practice habits still matter)
• A replacement for timed mixed practice in the final phase of studying

If you find a typo, an unclear explanation, or you’d like to suggest an exercise type you wish you had more of, I’d genuinely welcome that feedback. The goal is simple: make strong actuarial training resources more accessible, and help you turn study time into exam-ready skill. ✅