Shane Whelan likes a challenge, and his career path has been defined both by what he enjoyed and by a desire to keep learning. Becoming an actuary seemed like the perfect solution.

If you had a crystal ball that allowed you to see your future, what would you arrange differently about your finances? Plus talks to the Government Actuary, Chris Daykin about the pensions crisis, and how actuaries use statistical and modelling techniques to plan for all our futures.

Actuaries use mathematics to model the real world, finding business solutions to the perennial problems thrown up by life's uncertainties. Kathy Byrne tells Plus about life as Actuarial Director of an Insurance Company.

Actuarial science began as the place where two branches of mathematics meet: compound interest and observed mortality statistics. Financial planning for the future is therefore rooted firmly in the past. John Webb takes us through some of the mathematics involved, introducing us to some of the colourful characters who led the way.