Best books for FM exam?

[chrisjkeeney]

I just passed Exam P and am looking to start studying for FM. I have a strong mathematics background, but very limited knowledge in financial mathematics or finance in general.

I am taking a Financial mathematics course this fall along with an Actuarial Seminar for FM in the spring, but if I feel I can prepare myself before that, I'll skip the latter.

For my financial mathematics class, we require this book: [url]http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Investment-Credit-Edition-Academic/dp/1566987679/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1336762451&sr=8-3[/url]

Is that a good book to get started, or should I find something to supplement it as well? Thanks for any answers in advance!

[eomalley]

My answer is subjective, but:

That textbook is a good general introduction, but the questions tend to be a bit on the easy side compared to exams. There are a few questions pulled from former exams marked (SOA) in each problem set, and I felt they were always significantly harder than the rest of the problems. Additionally, there are some proof questions that I suppose give you a better understanding in general, but obviously aren't the type of question you will be asked on that portion of the exam. If you are looking to do many exam-style problems you will need some additional materials.

(and, obviously this book only covers the first ~65% of FM/2 topics)

Hope that helps.

[chrisjkeeney]

Thanks for the input! It sounds like the book will be good for me to read over the summer and grab the basics (plus I'll be able to coast through my financial mathematics course).

My goal is to take the exam before I graduate in May. If my studying goes as planned and I get a good understanding of the basics from the Broverman book, should I try the ADAPT program (I liked their study guide for Exam P)? I see they can get pretty pricey, but if I am replacing a college course with that, I am actually saving money.