5 Advanced Side Hustles for Actuaries With High Earning Potential
If you’re an actuary, I know you don’t have much time, and your brainpower is high. Your patience for nonsense is low too. You’re used to solving big problems and running deep analyses — not wasting hours on generic side projects that barely make fifty bucks a month.
You already know how to read numbers better than most people read books. You can measure risk and make sense of messy data. Businesses are in desperate need of this skill. And one more thing is that they don’t always want to hire a full-time actuary. They just need someone experienced enough to build a quick model.
You can design systems that can help a fintech startup price a loan or help a healthcare company predict its patient risks.
Forget those same old side hustle lists you see everywhere. These are the ones smart actuaries are actually trying right now:
Table of Contents
5 Side Hustles for Actuaries
1. Building Risk Prediction Models for Startups
You’ll be using your actuarial skills to help startups predict what could go wrong financially and how costly it might be for them.
Here’s the thing — a lot of early-stage tech startups have amazing products but zero understanding of risk forecasting. You can help small companies build basic risk models, forecast churn rates, or simulate pricing scenarios.
You don’t need to work full-time on it either. A few hours a week from your laptop can bring in a solid income, and you can charge premium rates because what you’re offering is not common knowledge.
Tools you need:
- Python (pandas) for data cleaning
- Tableau and Power BI for data visualization
- SaS and R (programming language). They are used for model building.
You can find these gigs on Contra, Wellfound, or by messaging startup founders on LinkedIn.
2. Quantitative Freelancing for Fintechs
Quantitative freelancing is the process of helping fintech startups make smarter financial decisions using data. These companies deal with payments and loans, but can’t afford to hire a full-time analyst. So they hire freelancers who can model outcomes, forecast risk, or detect fraud. Are you the person who loves math behind markets? Then this side hustle is for you.
Use free tools like Google Colab, Power BI, or Looker Studio to visualize results. A simple predictive model or risk dashboard can pay anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the complexity.
Platforms for offering your services:
3. Teaching Actuarial Exam Coaching
If you’ve ever passed an actuarial exam, you know the grind that comes with it. The long nights and endless formulas. Most people who start this journey don’t fail because they’re not smart — they fail because no one ever teaches them how to study the right way.
Thousands of students and entry-level professionals are constantly preparing for exams like P, FM, IFM, or SRM, and many would happily pay you for your personalized help.
You can coach in two ways:
- One-on-one tutoring
- Group or online courses
You don’t need to be a senior actuary to start teaching. Even if you’ve passed a few exams, you already know what things work and what doesn’t. You can coach online through the Zoom app. You can create small group sessions and also make pre-recorded videos for specific exam topics.
Tools you need:
Coaching pays on your experience, but you can expect to earn around $30 to $100 per hour. You can also charge for full packages.
4. Data Storytelling & Visualization Services
Data Storytelling & Visualization Services is about turning complex data into clear and meaningful stories that make sense to people.
You spend days and weeks playing with messy numbers and extracting data from them. Why not turn that into a service?
Businesses have a ton of data. They have endless spreadsheets, dashboards, and reports. But they don’t know how to use it for any benefit.
They know what happened, but not why that thing happened, and the reason behind it. For example, you can help a startup track which marketing campaign worked and bring results. Show trends and risks in a way anyone can understand
Businesses pay anywhere from $300 to $1,500 per project.
Tools you need:
- Power BI for dashboards
- Canva for presentation visuals
- Google Looker Studio for quick visuals
- Excel for cleaning data
5. Building Financial Tools
Think about all the templates you’ve built for work or during your studies — risk models, premium calculators, ROI estimators, expense trackers. Now imagine turning them into user-friendly and selling them online for $20-$50 each.
You don’t need any fancy setup or your own website to start selling. You can use Gumroad or Ko-fi to sell your templates and tools. Don’t overthink about the whole process. Design it and share on Reddit, or anywhere your audience hangs out.
The sales will be very slow at first because no one trusts you. It’s totally normal, don’t become tense about it. But once you have got a few orders for your products, you will start ranking organically, and orders will come.
One of my friends sells a “Retirement Risk Model” Excel tool for $25. It brings in $250–$400 every month without him doing anything now. And remember, while earning money you’re also helping someone with your knowledge.
Conclusion
So, Which One’s Best?
Honestly, it depends on your personality.
If you love numbers and tech, go for quantitative freelancing or financial tools. If you enjoy people and teaching, start exam coaching.
The only thing that holds most people back is the belief that “side hustles” are for creatives or influencers. But this isn’t true. They’re for anyone who wants to build something small and let it grow quietly over time.
Start with something simple. Offer one service, like selling one template.
Once you see the first $50 or $200 coming in, it changes everything. Because it’s proof that your skills can work outside the office too.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to manage a side hustle while working full-time as an actuary?
Start with something project-based, like data storytelling or building templates. Those don’t require a daily time commitment. You can work a few hours on weekends, finish one solid product or dashboard, and let it generate results while you focus on your job.
The trick is to choose something that energizes you, not drains you after work.
2. How do I find fintech clients online?
You can find quality leads on LinkedIn and fintech Slack groups. Message startups offering help with risk models or forecasting.
3. Do people really buy financial tools and templates?
Yes, they do! Excel templates and planners sell well on Gumroad and Etsy. Because people want ready-made solutions that save them time. If your tool solves a real problem, it will sell.
4. What mistake do actuaries make when starting out?
The biggest mistake is overthinking every little detail. Many wait until everything is perfect and never launch anything. The smarter approach you need to do is to start small and learn from the feedback.
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