Actuarial science is the mathematical and statistical underpinning of the design, financing and operation of all types of insurance plans, pension plans and benefit plans. Practitioners of actuarial science, called actuaries, work in the professional areas of life and health insurance, property and casualty insurance, and public and private pension and benefit plans.

An actuary is likely to work for an insurance company, an actuarial or employee benefit consulting firm, a very large accounting firm or corporation, or a government agency. In the United States and Canada, success on professional actuarial examinations, offered by various professional actuarial organizations, is central to career advancement. A typical actuary takes two or three examinations while still a college student and continues with the examinations through the first five to ten years of actuarial employment, all the while progressing in his or her career.