Actuaries who work for insurance companies perform many duties, including data research and setting premium rates. Blame an actuary. About one third of all actuaries work for consulting firms. Most of these actuaries deal with employee benefits and perform duties such as advising corporations how to manage their pension and compensation plans. In general, insurance actuaries work fewer hours and have less job stress than their consulting counterparts.
Consultants usually make more money, and have interaction with clients.
It is more difficult to draw a distinction between life and casualty. If you prefer ECON 102 and FIN 254, you may prefer casualty. It is a good idea to look at the SOA exam syllabus and the CAS exam syllabus to see which syllabus material seems more interesting to you. Because the actuarial profession is so versatile, there are many other positions for which actuaries are good candidates. Many actuaries work for state governments in a regulatory role.