Description: This paper is based on work the authors did for the Committee on Retirement Systems Research of the Society of Actuaries. The authors' task was to perform data analysis for that Committee in support of a study of the effects of the Safest Annuity Rule. The Committee's conclusions will be released in a separate report. This paper describes their overall study only to put the authors' own work in context. The real purpose of this paper is to discuss the data analysis skills and principles which were applied in this project, and to argue that these same skills and principles should be part of an actuarial student's education. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1998 Vol. 1.

Description: Description of the consulting segment of the actuarial profession as it now exists in Canada and the United States, the environment in which it has developed, and some of the unresolved problems and possible future developments. Followed by discussion papers submitted by 2 authors