Exam FM is mostly a calculator exam. The math is approachable, and your score comes down to whether you can spot the cash-flow structure in about 30 seconds and run the right BA-II Plus sequence in the next 90. The SOA's 454 published sample questions drill exactly that, and FreeFellow has all of them free, with the worked solution next to each one.
You pick an answer, the solution appears next to it, and your accuracy by topic feeds the free readiness score. Fellow adds focus practice on the cash-flow patterns you keep missing. Anyone can open the previews, and a free account (no card) gets you the rest.
Start practicing Exam FM samples
Where the 454 questions fall
The set leans the same way the exam does:
| Topic area | Approx. sample count | What you'll see |
|---|---|---|
| Time value of money and interest theory | ~80 | Single cash flows, force of interest, varying interest, equivalent rates |
| Annuities | ~130 | Level (immediate, due, perpetuity), increasing, decreasing, deferred, varying continuously |
| Bond pricing and yield | ~100 | Par/premium/discount, yield to maturity, callable bonds, semi-annual coupons |
| Loans and amortization | ~40 | Constant payment loans, outstanding balances, varying payment loans |
| Cash-flow analysis | ~50 | IRR, NPV, time-weighted vs dollar-weighted returns, reinvestment risk |
| Term structure and forward rates | ~30 | Spot rates, forward rates, par yield curve, swap rates |
| Immunization and ALM | ~26 | Redington conditions, full immunization, Macaulay/modified duration, convexity |
A few patterns recur often enough to memorize. Annuity-immediate to annuity-due conversions show up in over half the annuity items, yield to maturity with semi-annual coupons appears in roughly half the bond items, and forward-rate triangulation (you're given two spot rates and find the forward) is the most common term-structure question.
Calculator first, then the samples
Do calculator drills before you touch the samples. Spend two hours on pure button drills across the BA-II Plus worksheets until N, I/Y, PV, PMT and FV are automatic. Sample practice after that is about 3x more productive than starting cold.
Each sample then drills the four steps the exam grades. You recognize the cash-flow structure (level annuity, varying annuity, bond bought at a premium, loan with refinancing), pick the BA-II Plus worksheet (TVM, BOND, CF, AMORT), run the sequence without keying errors, and sanity-check the result before you lock in an answer. Seeing the same shapes again and again with different numbers is how you get from panicking at minute 145 to finishing in 90 minutes.
FM doesn't forgive calculator errors, and the samples are full of its classic traps: a bond yield where the coupon pays in arrears versus in advance, an annuity-due labeled as annuity-immediate in the stem, a callable bond priced at the wrong redemption date. Working them repeatedly builds the reflex to catch these on exam day.
Mix the bond and annuity items in your timed sets. The exam shuffles cash-flow types, so topic order is fine while you're learning, and mixed sets are what build the speed at switching between them.
Work the 26 asset-liability management items twice. They're the most conceptually dense in the set, and most candidates score below 50 percent on them the first time. On the second pass, paying deliberate attention to the immunization conditions (PV match, modified duration match, asset convexity higher than liability convexity), scores typically jump to 80+ percent.
Three topics are light in the set. Stochastic interest rate models are one, even though the 2025+ syllabus leans toward them, and Marcel Finan's free FM textbook has extra drill. Dollar-weighted versus time-weighted returns are another, though they come up on every sitting. The third is callable-bond pricing under interest-rate scenarios, which the FreeFellow original FM bank covers.
Free and paid versions
| Source | Exam FM Sample Questions | Format | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| FreeFellow | All 454, interactive | Same surface as topic practice | Free |
| ASM Financial Math Manual | All 454 in study manual | PDF in manual | Check current package price |
| ACTEX Exam FM | Selected items + commentary | PDF in manual | Check current package price |
| Coaching Actuaries Adapt FM | All 454 + originals + EL scoring | Interactive within Adapt | Check current package price |
| Marcel Finan FM (free) | None | Free textbook with practice | Free |
| SOA only | All 454 | Static PDF on soa.org | Free |
For theory, Marcel Finan at Arkansas Tech University has a free manual, A Basic Course in the Theory of Interest and Derivatives Markets: A Preparation for the Actuarial Exam FM/2. It's the best-known free theory text for FM, with complete syllabus coverage, worked theory and end-of-section problems, but no interactive grading. The free FM plan that's worked for years is Finan for the theory, the SOA samples and the FreeFellow bank for volume, and the readiness score to tell you when you're done.
The SOA Exam FM Study Guide turns that into a plan with weekly milestones. If you're still on P, its sample set is in Free Exam P Sample Questions.