ActuarialExam ALTAM
SOA Exam ALTAM · Advanced Long-Term Actuarial Mathematics
Updated August 2026

SOA Exam ALTAM Study Plan & Practice System

Exam ALTAM is the advanced long-term actuarial mathematics exam for candidates focused on life insurance, annuities, pensions, and long-term health. Follows Exam FAM. Upload your ACTEX digital edition, scanned ASM manual, or your own ALTAM notes and exclam.ai turns them into a fully guided study plan with adaptive flashcards, quizzes, and a weekly schedule.

Typical hours
~300
Typical weeks
~18
Topic areas
5
Pass rate
~45–55%

Exam format

Multiple-choice and written-answer format. Candidates must show work on multi-step problems. Requires deep understanding of life contingencies and profit testing mechanics.

Written-answer questions require showing your work — partial credit is available.

Heavy on profit testing, embedded value, and pension accounting.

Prerequisite: Exam FAM must be completed first.

The advanced life-side exam — ASTAM is the short-term counterpart.

Format details change periodically. Always verify the current exam structure on soa.org before your exam.

Exam ALTAM topic areas

The 5 topic areas tested on Exam ALTAM, with approximate weight bands from the public SOA syllabus. Click any topic for a dedicated study page.

Topic names and approximate weight bands sourced from the public SOA Exam ALTAM syllabus on soa.org.

How exclam.ai helps with Exam ALTAM

Upload your study manual

Drop in your ACTEX Exam ALTAM digital edition (full-corpus PDF), scanned ASM pages, TIA handouts, or your own notes. exclam.ai parses them into structured content for a fully guided study plan.

Generate flashcards & quizzes

AI generates flashcards for formulas and concepts, plus multiple-choice quizzes targeting each of the 5 topic areas. Edit any card.

Get a weekly adaptive plan

Coverage phase, review phase, and mocks — distributed across your ~18-week timeline or whatever you choose.

Exam ALTAM study plan

Pick the timeline that matches your exam date. exclam.ai spreads roughly 300 hours across coverage, review, and mock phases — each reading paired with its own quiz and FSRS flashcards. Switch the plan length to rebalance the schedule instantly.

Plan length
14 weeks · ~21h/week

Approximate milestones

14 weeks
CoverageMonths 1–2
  1. Advanced Mortality Models~wk 2
  2. Advanced Life Insurance and Annuity Pricing~wk 4
  3. Reserves and Risk Management~wk 6
  4. Pensions and Retirement Benefits~wk 7
  5. Health Insurance~wk 8
ReviewMonths 2–3
Mock examsMonth 3
Examend of Month 3

Your full plan · 14 weeks to exam day

14 weeks · ~21h/week
CoverageReviewMocks· chips show the task mix for that week; buffer days are the planned rest
August 2026
  1. Wk 1Aug 24 – Aug 30Advanced Mortality ModelsCoverageReadQuizFlashcards15–25%6 study · 1 buffer
  2. Wk 2Aug 31 – Sep 6Advanced Mortality ModelsCoverageReadQuizFlashcards15–25%6 study · 1 buffer
September 2026
  1. Wk 3Sep 7 – Sep 13Advanced Life Insurance and Annuity PricingCoverageReadQuizFlashcards20–30%6 study · 1 buffer
  2. Wk 4Sep 14 – Sep 20Advanced Life Insurance and Annuity PricingCoverageReadQuizFlashcards20–30%6 study · 1 buffer
  3. Wk 5Sep 21 – Sep 27Reserves and Risk ManagementCoverageReadQuizFlashcards15–25%6 study · 1 buffer
  4. Wk 6Sep 28 – Oct 4Reserves and Risk ManagementCoverageReadQuizFlashcards15–25%6 study · 1 buffer
October 2026
  1. Wk 7Oct 5 – Oct 11Pensions and Retirement BenefitsCoverageReadQuizFlashcards15–20%6 study · 1 buffer
  2. Wk 8Oct 12 – Oct 18Health InsuranceCoverageReadQuizFlashcards15–20%6 study · 1 buffer
  3. Wk 9Oct 19 – Oct 25ReviewReviewQuizFlashcards6 study · 1 buffer
  4. Wk 10Oct 26 – Nov 1ReviewReviewQuizFlashcards6 study · 1 buffer
November 2026
  1. Wk 11Nov 2 – Nov 8ReviewReviewQuizFlashcards6 study · 1 buffer
  2. Wk 12Nov 9 – Nov 15MocksMocksQuizFlashcards6 study · 1 buffer
  3. Wk 13Nov 16 – Nov 22MocksMocksQuizFlashcards6 study · 1 buffer
  4. Wk 14Nov 23 – Nov 29MocksMocksQuizFlashcards6 study · 1 buffer
Exam daySun, Nov 29, 2026End of week 14

Your Exam ALTAM plan

A visual preview of how exclam.ai turns your plan into daily reading, flashcard, quiz, review, and mock streaks across the timeline you pick.

EP / day
7
daily target
Projected streak
5days
if you never miss
Study days
83
Modules
5
Per week
~21h
~300h total
To exam
14weeks

Sign in to unlock your full 14 weeks plan

Every module dated to your exam, with quizzes and FSRS flashcards generated from your own materials.

Unlock my full plan free

Week-by-week module breakdown

Your Exam ALTAM plan walks the syllabus module-by-module before transitioning into review and mock phases. Module weeks are allocated proportional to SOA topic weights — heavier-weighted modules get more time, lighter ones either get a single week or pair with adjacent topics on intensive paces. Change the plan length above to see the schedule rebalance.

Module 1 of 5
Weeks 1–2
Exam weight 15–25%
Advanced Mortality Models

Multi-state mortality models, fractional age assumptions, and select and ultimate tables for advanced applications. Build flashcards covering every learning objective and quiz yourself before moving to the next module.

Module 2 of 5
Weeks 3–4
Exam weight 20–30%
Advanced Life Insurance and Annuity Pricing

Gross premium pricing, profit testing, embedded value calculations, and universal life product pricing. Build flashcards covering every learning objective and quiz yourself before moving to the next module.

Module 3 of 5
Weeks 5–6
Exam weight 15–25%
Reserves and Risk Management

Policy reserves under different regulatory frameworks, deferred acquisition costs, and risk management strategies. Build flashcards covering every learning objective and quiz yourself before moving to the next module.

Module 4 of 5
Week 7
Exam weight 15–20%
Pensions and Retirement Benefits

Pension plan valuation, funding methods, and accounting for post-employment benefits. Build flashcards covering every learning objective and quiz yourself before moving to the next module.

Module 5 of 5
Week 8
Exam weight 15–20%
Health Insurance

Pricing, reserving, and risk management for long-term health insurance and long-term care products. Build flashcards covering every learning objective and quiz yourself before moving to the next module.

Phase: Review
Weeks 9–11

Review

Weak-topic drilling. exclam.ai surfaces topics where you underperformed during coverage and re-quizzes them. Daily FSRS flashcard reps across all 5 topics to prevent decay. Start doing timed question batches focused on the heaviest-weight sections.

Phase: Mocks
Weeks 12–14

Mocks

Full-length Exam ALTAM practice exams under timed conditions. Target one mock every 3–5 days. Same-day error review: for every question you miss, re-derive the solution from scratch. Taper in the final 3 days — light flashcards only.

Popular Exam ALTAM study manuals

exclam.ai works alongside any of these vendors. Upload paths vary, ACTEX sells full digital editions as downloadable PDFs (cleanest upload), ASM print manuals can be scanned for the full corpus, and The Infinite Actuary provides downloadable PDF handouts alongside their videos. For ASM digital (app-locked) and Coaching Actuaries (online platform), upload your own notes taken while studying. We do not distribute or reproduce any vendor content, your manual stays with the publisher.

ASM Study Manual
Print manual · scan to PDF
ACTEX Study Manual
Digital edition · downloadable PDF
Coaching Actuaries
Online platform · upload your notes

Exam ALTAM questions

Should I take ALTAM or ASTAM?

Depends on your career direction. Life insurance, annuities, pensions, and long-term health → ALTAM. Property/casualty, short-term health, or general insurance → ASTAM. You only need one to reach ASA.

How much harder is ALTAM than FAM?

Candidates generally rate ALTAM as significantly harder than FAM due to the depth of profit testing and pension content plus the written-answer format.

What is the written-answer section like?

Multi-step problems where you show work and receive partial credit. Requires tight time management — practice writing out full solutions under exam conditions.

Start your Exam ALTAM plan today

Upload your ACTEX digital edition, scanned ASM pages, TIA handouts, or your own notes, exclam.ai builds a fully guided study plan around your exam date.

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