What is the probability that the roulette wheel will stop on 33 black? What is your expected payoff if you bet $100? How long are social security benefits expected to last? These are the types of problems actuaries can solve. The job of an actuary is to assign probabilities to expected events and determine the expected cost associated with the outcome. Actuaries are involved in determining the expected wealth of your pension plan, developing a medical benefit package for your company, calculating the amount you save on auto insurance by installing an anti-theft device, and advising your mayor on the costs of providing care to the elderly in your city. There are actuaries in all areas of the business world: insurance companies, consulting companies, investing companies and government organizations. I selected a career at a consulting company in the health and welfare department.

At my job, we are involved in all aspects of an employer's benefit package, from start to finish. We help the company decide what types of benefits they want to provide and how much each benefit will cost. We help the company select an insurance company to insure the benefits. We price their renewal rates and negotiate with the insurance company when it is time to renew the policy. When a change to the plan is needed, we price the cost and savings associated with adding, changing and eliminating certain benefits.

We also provide consulting advice to insurance companies and those providing the insured benefits.