An actuary is a person that was specifically trained to use mathematical principals, probability and statistical methods in order to assess the level of risk that a person or business poses. In order to obtain a degree, many Universities have made it possible to earn an undergraduate or graduate degree in actuarial science, but the field requires intense work both in and out of the University.
When relating to life insurance, this term takes many different things into consideration such as the health of the person being insured by an insurance company, the age of the person, the past history with any types of diseases, injuries or other potentially threatening health issues and many other influential factors that could possibly pose a risk to the insurance company. By applying mathematical principals and statistics to this real world problem, the life insurance actuary is then able to show the insurance company the risk that they would be taking by taking the client on. From here, the life insurance company can either turn the individual away who is applying for the life insurance, or choose to set the rate of life insurance for the individual who has applied. For the life insurance company, this can make it clear exactly who the individuals are who pose a higher risk for costing the life insurance company money once the person has already been taken on under the life insurance policy.
Through rigorous training and schooling, actuaries acquire any type of information that may be necessary in order to completely and successfully express the exact risk that an individual may pose for a company. Through years of experience, actuaries help numerous companies to avoid losing large amounts of money that would otherwise allow the clients who end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the company to have a life insurance policy. For an actuary, this line of work is not only an incredibly satisfying job, but is a passion.
Kamisha Hendrix 