Live Sidebar #1

In this new section, the Issue will feature sidebar-sized thoughts/articles that I hope some will find intriguing, or at least informative of something you wouldn't have otherwise thought about. Some will however be more subjective/normative in nature than positive.

I hereby wish to start with an attempt to correct a common mistake made by most people who are not directly or indirectly involved in the actuarial field:

'Actuarial' is the ADJECTIVE describing the field, e.g. actuarial studies, actuarial tables, actuarial statistics and actuarial profession.

'Actuary' is a person who practices in the actuarial field. The plural noun form is 'actuaries'. This is where the problem comes in: some use 'actuarist' instead.

Note that as I'm writing this Firefox already has it highlighted as a spelling error. I hope I had contributed a little there. So next time resist the impulse to add that '-s' or '-st' to 'actuary'. Cheers folks.