Actuaries don't guess.

S'true. In the words of Dilbert, the only sensible way to make business decisions is to pluck numbers out of the air, call them assumptions, and calculate the net present value.

Of course, you have to use the right discount rate, otherwise it's meaningless.

It was actuaries that invented NPV? I hate you all.

It was actuaries that invented NPV?

I think the answer is "no." Actuaries do things like calculating NPV, except they incorporate probabilities of future events, like, say, someone dying in the case of a stream of retirement payments.

Using it is bad enough. Who made it up?

It's just a commonly used accounting... thingie. So I imagine it's been around for a long time.

What's so hard about NPV calculations, anyway? NPV and related functions are built into all spreadsheets and financial calculators. Is it comming up with the values you're gonna use in the NPV calculations?

Nah, it's not the concept, it's the application in IT project management that makes my eyes twitch. Doesn't stop me from wanting to raze the earth of its creators and perpetuators.

Actuaries use NPV constantly. It's one of the foundations of Actuarial Science (don't laugh).

What sorts of things can you calculate NPV for? For instance, could you calculate the appropriate price to pay if you were buying Britney Spears's future earnings today?

What about a rock; does it have an NPV of zero? (I'm talking a rock that you just picked up in the parking lot. Not asphalt or concrete, but a real rock.)

BT, Jon, I have some actuarial questions, as I am making the lead character in my new play an actuary. Would either of you mind if I emailed you with various general sorts of things?

BT, Jon, I have some actuarial questions, as I am making the lead character in my new play an actuary. Would either of you mind if I emailed you with various general sorts of things?

Make sure the character either plays Theremin or is an amateur zoologist. Bonus points for silver pleather.