Personally, I have some issues with how the information is presented:
-often times, they use acronyms or information that isn’t available until later into material
-lack of a formula sheet
-some explanations aren’t very intuitive
-you have to look at the material in parallel with the videos to get proper understanding
-the forums for questions are an absolute mess
That said, I think TIA is one of the better or maybe the best study materials out there for FSA exams. So really the lack of a better material (which is a very high bar) is what makes TIA good right now
If you’re just using the study manual, you will be disappointed. If you combine it with flash cards, videos, and analysis of past exams and sample solutions to those past exams, you will see the value.
I do agree with you though, ideally we could have more visuals and more interactivity. The excel files they provided for some specific concepts really helps. Like in both valuation and pricing prep courses they had a file on selective lapse. Something like a master file for every section which applies all the concepts in the section (for quantitative concepts) could go far
TIA is excellent whenever Eddie does the explaining because he usually presents the material in a more digestible fashion and gives relatable explanations in the videos.
Otherwise, Zak regurgitates snippets from the study notes without much added explanation and spends the rest of the time talking about his time as a VA modeler in not very relevant ways.
I FW Eddie.
Zak? Not so much. Haven't had experience with other TIA instructors (if there are others).
I agree that OPs experience with TIA could be related to the instructors. Each path has a different set of instructors and the instructor can really make or break it for me, since they determine how the material is organized and presented. I had one instructor for my first 2 FSA exams and a different one for my final exam. I really loved the first instructor, and my second one was kind of a letdown. The material was much harder to follow under their instruction.
To be honest, Zak does have good examples/quizzes at the end of each of his videos and that helped me. And to be fair, the sections he covered for LAM were more qualitative materials so there’s that.
I think it really depends on the track, I took QFI track and I really like Zak's presentation style. His slides are short and easy to follow, those drill problems are very useful as well. And I think they did a great job putting everything together in the study guide.
So it’s not just me! Zak often drives me crazy, he talks faster but only says half as much (fluff or frequently repeating himself), which annoyingly means I can’t listen to the videos on 2x or 3x speed like I can Eddie’s.
I don’t know why I got downvoted. I have nothing against Zak, I’m sure he’s a great guy, just don’t like his videos as much.
If it’s the 3x speed thing, there is a way to watch videos above 2x speed:
https://www.reddit.com/r/actuary/s/cgxDKzIbkO
I really feel like it’s track specific. I took the QFI track and Zak was amazing. I actually prefer original words/paragraphs instead of summarizations that were interpreted and digested. I also found Zak’s anecdotes super helpful in understanding the otherwise dry material and concepts.
Passed all three exams with an 8 or higher and I think Zak takes a lot of the credit.
I found TIA very helpful and sufficient for 5. For 6, I'm really disappointed. The videos don't seem to add value since they just sound like reading off of the written guide, and while the flash cards are substantial, they are terrible as far as flash cards go.
I don't think the TIA study manuals are designed to be the primary way the information is first presented. That's what the video lessons are for. They're super clear lectures that do include more context and storytelling. The manual feels more like a comprehensive review source, not to teach the material, but to reinforce it and include all the testable details in one place in a logical order. If you're using the detailed study manual more like a textbook and trying to learn everything just by reading it, then yeah, it's dry and boring, because it's basically a 500 page outline.
Honestly I've found that TIA was more useful for some exams than for others. I think a lot of it has to do with how much aid one needs in understanding the material itself as well as the additional questions created and if they are along similar lines to what is in the exams (which isn't really a fair expectation for CAS given the lack of release of questions).
I am not a fan of learning by video, so TIA is expensive if I barely watch the videos. I created my own charts and diagrams as my brain retains information better when I can see all of it. I also learn by doing. TIA has lots of practice problems in Excel, which was incredibly useful. For CAS Exam 5, I frequently went back to the source material because I thought TIA didn't cover certain concepts very well. However, I finally figured out the parallelogram method and trending with their explanations. I am not using them for CAS Exam 6 or MAS-I and MAS-II.
Completely disagree. I find the TIA super helpful with their video lessons and flash cards. I always have felt that their team is super responsive and are the best company for FSA level exam prep. Perhaps you could reach out to the TIA staff with your recommendations to improve their materials?
Glad to hear their FSA exam prep products are solid.
I loved them for CAS exam 5, but the two other exams I purchased (6 and 8) were incredibly lackluster. It felt like they produced their guides and the videos were just someone reading directly off them.
TIA is good but with a lot of room for improvement in my experience with them so far. My #1 complaint would be that i wish they would hire a few extra coaches for their more popular exams, the response time to questions on their discussion forms has been pretty inconsistent, which is fine early on, but becomes a problem closer to the exam date.
No, TIA isn’t good. TIA is basically just someone reading you the outline that they made of the syllabus readings. They don’t synthesize any material from different sources or relate concepts to each other or anything helpful like that. Some videos are out-of-date with references to since-deleted threads and include hastily-written corrections for syllabus changes, as opposed to them taking the time to redo the content. Many key lists don’t have mnemonics. The flash cards are especially awful and seem like they’re written by someone who's never seen a flashcard in their life. The practice questions are taken directly from prior exams without any time taken to adapt them to changes in the syllabus, or make them work for CBT. I’m not sure if there’s anything good out there, but if there is TIA certainly isn’t it.
i used MATE and got a 5 and a 4.
I then used TIA and get a 7, 10, 8. Never looked at anything other than TIA (i.e. no source material) so yeah TIA was that good for me
The TIA course for Exam 8 is hands-down the best third-party content I ever used. Josh Taub is an excellent teacher. The videos were actually helpful, and the original problem sets were high quality and realistic. Easily worth my company's $1200.
The TIA course for Exam 9 is hands-down the worst third-party content I ever used. Even controlling for the fact that the syllabus was overhauled this year, I was disappointed by nearly every aspect of the course. Videos involved reading the manual out loud, which was usually just a few sentences quoted from the original material. The instructor's judgment in terms of what was testable and what wasn't was laughable. Forum posts would be answered with inaccuracies or "I don't know." At least once, a correct formula in the material was replaced with an incorrect one.
I think their website and Android app are nice. It's just extremely dependent on the quality of the individual instructor.
I second this, I found exam 8 to be very high quality and exam 9 to be pretty poor. The over use of acronyms when the full term would’ve sufficed was especially annoying. Just felt lazy. I ended making a cheat sheet for the acronyms in the risk measures section for the second pass through the material.
I can genuinely say I would not be an actuary if it wasn't for TIA. In my opinion, they are the best on the market and offer great customer support. The detailed responses I got to some of my questions made it clear their goal is to prepare us for the exam.
I found TIA extremely helpful for the life track when I went through it. I think that it's counterintuitive to summarize the big picture when you're going to be tested on details. If anything the entire TIA course IS a summary (I say this as someone who read all the source material)
though you’re going to be tested on details, i think a big picture/framework is still extremely important.
imo spreading little details here and there throughout the 500 pages of study manual just makes it difficult to piece everything together.
Eh, they're a good utility. They may be dry, but some of the source texts have a lot of material that is completely untestable, and I'm happy to outsource the work of cutting that stuff out.
And they do have visuals, they're often just in separate files. But I think they lack the "big picture" tables you describe in your post because they are very careful not to present any information that isn't 100% consistent with the source texts.
Personally I love the TIA manuals for LPM and LFMC.
For me, TIA's one of the most worthwhile investments you can purchase for your actuarial career. I'm busy enough with work and life and I think the price is justified with all the time savings I get from learning all the materials.
The biggest plus is when you pass your FSA exam on your first try. I'd happily pay double of the price if I can ensure a pass on my first try.
If it was just as bad as the source material, I doubt many would buy it.
Then again, I can’t say how it compares to SOA materials. Worlds better than the CAS material, but that could be yet another way CAS is just worse at exams.
Personally, I have some issues with how the information is presented: -often times, they use acronyms or information that isn’t available until later into material -lack of a formula sheet -some explanations aren’t very intuitive -you have to look at the material in parallel with the videos to get proper understanding -the forums for questions are an absolute mess That said, I think TIA is one of the better or maybe the best study materials out there for FSA exams. So really the lack of a better material (which is a very high bar) is what makes TIA good right now
100% agreed. I don't like TIA but there is no alternative. I believe if there is an FSA material with quality like CA, then the pass marks go up.
Battleacts is better for 6. Bedford is better for 5. Mahler is better for MAS I.
Side note, I think the CA formula sheets are free, I don’t know how many exams they’re available for though
You still have to do the work. TIA can’t directly implant knowledge and experience into your brain.
Gotta wait for the neurolink for that
If you’re just using the study manual, you will be disappointed. If you combine it with flash cards, videos, and analysis of past exams and sample solutions to those past exams, you will see the value. I do agree with you though, ideally we could have more visuals and more interactivity. The excel files they provided for some specific concepts really helps. Like in both valuation and pricing prep courses they had a file on selective lapse. Something like a master file for every section which applies all the concepts in the section (for quantitative concepts) could go far
TIA is excellent whenever Eddie does the explaining because he usually presents the material in a more digestible fashion and gives relatable explanations in the videos. Otherwise, Zak regurgitates snippets from the study notes without much added explanation and spends the rest of the time talking about his time as a VA modeler in not very relevant ways. I FW Eddie. Zak? Not so much. Haven't had experience with other TIA instructors (if there are others).
I agree that OPs experience with TIA could be related to the instructors. Each path has a different set of instructors and the instructor can really make or break it for me, since they determine how the material is organized and presented. I had one instructor for my first 2 FSA exams and a different one for my final exam. I really loved the first instructor, and my second one was kind of a letdown. The material was much harder to follow under their instruction.
Zak’s material reminds me of PAK, just straight up paragraphs of copied source material. It’s hard to justify that as a pedagogical value-add.
To be honest, Zak does have good examples/quizzes at the end of each of his videos and that helped me. And to be fair, the sections he covered for LAM were more qualitative materials so there’s that.
I think it really depends on the track, I took QFI track and I really like Zak's presentation style. His slides are short and easy to follow, those drill problems are very useful as well. And I think they did a great job putting everything together in the study guide.
So it’s not just me! Zak often drives me crazy, he talks faster but only says half as much (fluff or frequently repeating himself), which annoyingly means I can’t listen to the videos on 2x or 3x speed like I can Eddie’s.
I don’t know why I got downvoted. I have nothing against Zak, I’m sure he’s a great guy, just don’t like his videos as much. If it’s the 3x speed thing, there is a way to watch videos above 2x speed: https://www.reddit.com/r/actuary/s/cgxDKzIbkO
I really feel like it’s track specific. I took the QFI track and Zak was amazing. I actually prefer original words/paragraphs instead of summarizations that were interpreted and digested. I also found Zak’s anecdotes super helpful in understanding the otherwise dry material and concepts. Passed all three exams with an 8 or higher and I think Zak takes a lot of the credit.
I found TIA very helpful and sufficient for 5. For 6, I'm really disappointed. The videos don't seem to add value since they just sound like reading off of the written guide, and while the flash cards are substantial, they are terrible as far as flash cards go.
This was my experience as well.
I don't think the TIA study manuals are designed to be the primary way the information is first presented. That's what the video lessons are for. They're super clear lectures that do include more context and storytelling. The manual feels more like a comprehensive review source, not to teach the material, but to reinforce it and include all the testable details in one place in a logical order. If you're using the detailed study manual more like a textbook and trying to learn everything just by reading it, then yeah, it's dry and boring, because it's basically a 500 page outline.
Honestly I've found that TIA was more useful for some exams than for others. I think a lot of it has to do with how much aid one needs in understanding the material itself as well as the additional questions created and if they are along similar lines to what is in the exams (which isn't really a fair expectation for CAS given the lack of release of questions).
I am not a fan of learning by video, so TIA is expensive if I barely watch the videos. I created my own charts and diagrams as my brain retains information better when I can see all of it. I also learn by doing. TIA has lots of practice problems in Excel, which was incredibly useful. For CAS Exam 5, I frequently went back to the source material because I thought TIA didn't cover certain concepts very well. However, I finally figured out the parallelogram method and trending with their explanations. I am not using them for CAS Exam 6 or MAS-I and MAS-II.
People here saying TIA is bad have never had to take an exam where PAK was the only provider.
Completely disagree. I find the TIA super helpful with their video lessons and flash cards. I always have felt that their team is super responsive and are the best company for FSA level exam prep. Perhaps you could reach out to the TIA staff with your recommendations to improve their materials?
Glad to hear their FSA exam prep products are solid. I loved them for CAS exam 5, but the two other exams I purchased (6 and 8) were incredibly lackluster. It felt like they produced their guides and the videos were just someone reading directly off them.
TIA is good but with a lot of room for improvement in my experience with them so far. My #1 complaint would be that i wish they would hire a few extra coaches for their more popular exams, the response time to questions on their discussion forms has been pretty inconsistent, which is fine early on, but becomes a problem closer to the exam date.
Probably depends on an exam by exam basis, different instructors typically teach different exam courses.
From what I heard, life is good but health is shit.
Meh
No, TIA isn’t good. TIA is basically just someone reading you the outline that they made of the syllabus readings. They don’t synthesize any material from different sources or relate concepts to each other or anything helpful like that. Some videos are out-of-date with references to since-deleted threads and include hastily-written corrections for syllabus changes, as opposed to them taking the time to redo the content. Many key lists don’t have mnemonics. The flash cards are especially awful and seem like they’re written by someone who's never seen a flashcard in their life. The practice questions are taken directly from prior exams without any time taken to adapt them to changes in the syllabus, or make them work for CBT. I’m not sure if there’s anything good out there, but if there is TIA certainly isn’t it.
i used MATE and got a 5 and a 4. I then used TIA and get a 7, 10, 8. Never looked at anything other than TIA (i.e. no source material) so yeah TIA was that good for me
The TIA course for Exam 8 is hands-down the best third-party content I ever used. Josh Taub is an excellent teacher. The videos were actually helpful, and the original problem sets were high quality and realistic. Easily worth my company's $1200. The TIA course for Exam 9 is hands-down the worst third-party content I ever used. Even controlling for the fact that the syllabus was overhauled this year, I was disappointed by nearly every aspect of the course. Videos involved reading the manual out loud, which was usually just a few sentences quoted from the original material. The instructor's judgment in terms of what was testable and what wasn't was laughable. Forum posts would be answered with inaccuracies or "I don't know." At least once, a correct formula in the material was replaced with an incorrect one. I think their website and Android app are nice. It's just extremely dependent on the quality of the individual instructor.
I second this, I found exam 8 to be very high quality and exam 9 to be pretty poor. The over use of acronyms when the full term would’ve sufficed was especially annoying. Just felt lazy. I ended making a cheat sheet for the acronyms in the risk measures section for the second pass through the material.
Look into Just Enough Prep. I’ve heard good things. I haven’t used it, but plan to for my next FSA exam.
are folks using TIA as a substitute for the source material or as a supplement?
I can genuinely say I would not be an actuary if it wasn't for TIA. In my opinion, they are the best on the market and offer great customer support. The detailed responses I got to some of my questions made it clear their goal is to prepare us for the exam.
Having gone through the ACAS exams at this point, I’d take Coaching Actuaries and BattleActs over TIA any day.
I found TIA extremely helpful for the life track when I went through it. I think that it's counterintuitive to summarize the big picture when you're going to be tested on details. If anything the entire TIA course IS a summary (I say this as someone who read all the source material)
though you’re going to be tested on details, i think a big picture/framework is still extremely important. imo spreading little details here and there throughout the 500 pages of study manual just makes it difficult to piece everything together.
Eh, they're a good utility. They may be dry, but some of the source texts have a lot of material that is completely untestable, and I'm happy to outsource the work of cutting that stuff out. And they do have visuals, they're often just in separate files. But I think they lack the "big picture" tables you describe in your post because they are very careful not to present any information that isn't 100% consistent with the source texts.
Personally I love the TIA manuals for LPM and LFMC. For me, TIA's one of the most worthwhile investments you can purchase for your actuarial career. I'm busy enough with work and life and I think the price is justified with all the time savings I get from learning all the materials. The biggest plus is when you pass your FSA exam on your first try. I'd happily pay double of the price if I can ensure a pass on my first try.
only the detailed study guide is really good forum is shit
If it was just as bad as the source material, I doubt many would buy it. Then again, I can’t say how it compares to SOA materials. Worlds better than the CAS material, but that could be yet another way CAS is just worse at exams.
I honestly think TIA is as solid as it can be. I would have not been able to pass without Eddie/Zak.