Best Calculator for Actuarial Exams (P, FM, and Beyond)
The actuarial exams have one of the shortest approved calculator lists in finance, and picking the right one from it makes a measurable difference. The short version: get the TI-30XS MultiView for Exam P, the BA II Plus for Exam FM, and if you can, carry both.
I am an FSA and passed the SOA exams on exactly this pairing, and I built FreeFellow's actuarial practice so candidates can drill the keystrokes on real Exam P and Exam FM problems. Here is the full approved list and how to choose.
The SOA and CAS approved calculator list
For the preliminary exams (Exam P, FM, FAM, SRM, ALTAM, ASTAM, and the CAS MAS-I and MAS-II), candidates may use only these models:
- Texas Instruments BA-35 (now discontinued, but still permitted if you have one)
- BA II Plus
- BA II Plus Professional
- TI-30Xa
- TI-30X II (the IIS solar or IIB battery version)
- TI-30X MultiView (the XS solar or XB battery version)
Bringing a calculator that is not on this list disqualifies your exam, so confirm your exact model against the current SOA policy before you sit.
TI-30XS MultiView: the Exam P workhorse
Exam P is probability and statistics, and the TI-30XS MultiView is built for that kind of work. Its two-line display shows the full expression you entered, so you can check and edit it before hitting enter, which cuts down on entry mistakes under time pressure. It handles fractions, exponents, and combinations (nCr) cleanly, and it is under 20 dollars.
For Exam P, this is the one to reach for. The financial functions you would miss from a BA II Plus simply are not what Exam P tests.
BA II Plus: the Exam FM workhorse
Exam FM is financial mathematics: annuities, bond pricing, loan amortization, yield rates. The BA II Plus is purpose-built for this. The time value of money row (N, I/Y, PV, PMT, FV) handles annuity and loan problems directly, the cash flow worksheet computes NPV and IRR on uneven cash flows, and the amortization worksheet does loan schedules. The TI-30XS has none of these, so on Exam FM it leaves you doing by hand what the BA II Plus does in a few keystrokes.
Why many candidates carry both
Both models are on the approved list, both are cheap, and you are allowed to bring both into the exam. The common setup is the TI-30XS MultiView as the primary for the probability-heavy exams and the BA II Plus as the primary for the financial-math exams, with each serving as the other's backup. A second permitted calculator also covers you if one fails or a battery dies.
Exam-day rules
- The exam supervisor clears the memory of the programmable-memory models (the TI-30X II, TI-30X MultiView, BA II Plus, and BA II Plus Professional) when you enter the room.
- You cannot bring calculator instructions or keystroke guides into the exam.
- An off-list model means disqualification, so double-check the exact model name and suffix.
Once your calculator is sorted, the work is repetition. FreeFellow's Exam P and Exam FM banks are free, so you can practice the exact keystrokes (combinations on the TI-30XS, TVM and cash flows on the BA II Plus) until they are automatic and the calculator stops slowing you down.