Actuary Discovers Hidden Code in Annuity Prospectus, Wins Lotto

A routine review of annuity product disclosers quickly became much more when an actuary stumbled upon a strange pattern of word and number combinations.

The actuary who made the discovery stated that it all started when she noticed that the word “guarantee” was misspelled.

“We’re only supposed to be reviewing that the calculations are illustrated right and benefits

are worded correctly.  But if I didn’t catch the typo, we would really look silly in front of the client.  Since ‘guarantee’ and its derivatives occur frequently in the prospectus, it was a huge error.”

She realized there was a hidden code when she looked a printout with the typos highlighted.

“It was sort of a John Nash sort of thing from ‘A Beautiful Mind’.   

I counted the number of words between the word ‘guarantee’.   Then I grouped those numbers in combinations for lottery tickets.  I run them each week and win something.  Often it’s just a dollar and the most so far has been fifty bucks.”

Given the discovery, the actuary plans to take a fresh look at insurance reference manuals to see what patterns emerge