Careers
What's an Actuary?
Actuaries evaluate the current financial implications of future contingent events - for example, how much homeowners should pay for insurance, how much money a life insurance company should set aside to pay its claims in a given year, how many people between the ages of 40 - 65 will have heart attacks in a given year and the average claim amount for the heart attacks.
Actuaries are social mathematicians and financial engineers who rely on historical data laws and trends, among other sources, to develop sound theoretical projections.
The calculations and projections done by actuaries are the backbone of the insurance and financial security industries, so math aptitude is paramount along with knowledge of business issues and trends, social science, law and economics.