Full time: Move to US

ParanoidActuary

Hey everyone!

Little introduction to myself: I'm a 4th year student, graduating from a university in Canada at the end of this year (December 2020). I wrote my first 4 exams back in 2018, and have secured 5 internships during my university career. 2 of them were at large life companies here in Canada, 1 of them was for growing P&C company in Canada, 1 of them was for a large global reinsurance company, and the last one was for a health insurance company in the USA.

Right now I have a return offer for the health insurance company, but have a significant chance of returning to the companies I interned at as well. Pre-pandemic, I would have loved to live in the USA and would have accepted that offer on the spot. Unfortunately, the pandemic (paired with political/social unrest) in the USA has exposed many problems in the country, and has made it a much less desirable place to live long term. Of course, the one benefit is that the pay is much higher there, which is amplified by the ₁.3 conversion into CAD.

I'm currently conflicted where I want to end up. The life insurance industry is pretty stagnant, but I love both the P&C and health insurance industries. For me, choosing a full time role comes down to the 4 C's. Cash, content, culture & career path, with the last two being the most important. I was hoping to get some peoples thoughts on moving to the US during this time, as well as seeking interesting opportunities in Canada that is outside of the traditional large life insurer (manu, sun, CL, etc).

CalebWetherell

Welcome, Mr. Paranoid!

Congrats on the success so far - 4 exams and 5 internships is nothing to sneeze at for someone near graduation (or maybe that's normal in Canada? Certainly is not in the US). At this point in your career, I would say that the most important thing to focus on is getting the experience you want for the future. If you think you'll find working in Health or P&C more engaging as a career, you should try to start there instead of LIfe - it can be harder to switch later without the relevant experience. People want to hire someone with experience and you won't have it, but you'll be asking for a high salary because that's what you get paid in the area you have experience.

Regarding location, I tend to think that the news is always sensationalized (both positively and negatively) and the day to day life in any one place is going to be pretty similar to other places. You go to work, you have some friends, you go out to eat, you exercise, etc. The day to day isn't that different, e.g. even if you have to pay for health care directly in the US (subsidized by your employer) instead of paying for it through taxes. I live in Seattle and there was literally zero impact on my life from everything going on in CHOP - except for going there to check it out myself one time. It was a very small 3 block area of the city. The media makes it out to be "anarachy in Seattle". But, day to day life is largely unaffected. Not trying to diminish these things as inconsequential, because they are not, but the impact on your day to day life may be less than you think.

Maybe someone with Health experience in the US or Canada can weigh in here, but it seems like what you learn as a Health actuary in the US may not be particularly relevant in Canada if you'd like to move back there. Another area I'm not qualified to give an opinion, but I will anyways - it seems likely to me the US will move to a socialized healthcare model at some point (maybe 10-20 years) - what do US-based health actuaries do then?

ParanoidActuary

That was a super quick reply, thanks!

Its fairly normal in Canada, given the large amount of actuaries entering the job market each year. I'll definitely be starting somewhere in health or P&C.. 8 months of life experience was enough for me.

I'm glad to have someones perspective on the location (I would be going to Connecticut). The news is definitely sensationalized, especially in Canada where all we really hear about are the negative things.

As for coming back to Canada, that would definitely be the endgame. Luckily, health experience translates to group benefit roles fairly well, and hopefully I would be in a management position by the time I came back. I 100% agree with you on the socialized healthcare model, but I think it would be very unlikely to have the entire private industry disappear. I'm sure private would still be offered to those who want to/can afford to, as well as companies moving from an emphasis on health insurance to health benefits. Just my 2 cents on the topic. Funny you should mention that, as I probably posed that question to every actuary I talked to during my internship there.

DBDDST

Hi ParanoidActuary, I believe you'll do well no matter what you choose! I graduated from a university in Canada, too! For various reasons I moved to US and I enjoy living here. (I miss my time in Canada, too!) Agreed it's very difficult to make the decision during this time! Even if not now, give it a try when pandemic time is close to end and you feel more comfortable about living in US. P&C is a pretty interesting world to be in. I don't know much about Health. Although not very common and seems really hard, I know a handful of actuaries switching between Health and P&C (even life and P&C). Good luck!