Other Expenses

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Other Income and Expenses [Abstract]

Other Expenses

10. Other Expenses

Information on other expenses was as follows:

	Three Months   Ended   March 31,
	2014			2013
	(In millions)
Compensation	$	1,205		$	1,291
Pension, postretirement and postemployment benefit costs	120			123
Commissions	1,288			1,388
Volume-related costs	201			183
Capitalization of DAC	(1,046		)	(1,256		)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,058			824
Amortization of negative VOBA	(115		)	(146		)
Interest expense on debt	312			321
Premium taxes, licenses and fees	225			159
Professional services	321			303
Rent and related expenses, net of sublease income	85			93
Other	509			855
Total other expenses	$	4,163		$	4,138

Restructuring Charges

The Company commenced in 2012 an enterprise-wide strategic initiative. This global strategy focuses on leveraging the Company’s scale to improve the value it provides to customers and shareholders in order to reduce costs, enhance revenues, achieve efficiencies and reinvest in its technology, platforms and functionality to improve its current operations and develop new capabilities. These restructuring charges are included in other expenses. As the expenses relate to an enterprise-wide initiative, they are reported in Corporate & Other. Estimated restructuring costs may change as management continues to execute this enterprise-wide strategic initiative. Such restructuring charges were as follows:

	Three Months   Ended   March 31,
	2014									2013
	Severance			Lease and Asset Impairment			Total			Severance			Lease and Asset Impairment			Total
	(In millions)
Balance, beginning of period	$	40		$	6		$	46		$	23		$	—		$	23
Restructuring charges	12			1			13			30			3			33
Cash payments	(28		)	(2		)	(30		)	(33		)	(3		)	(36		)
Balance, end of period	$	24		$	5		$	29		$	20		$	—		$	20
Total restructuring charges incurred since inception of initiative	$	252		$	35		$	287		$	171		$	21		$	192

Management anticipates further restructuring charges including severance, as well as lease and asset impairments, through the year ending December 31, 2015. However, such restructuring plans were not sufficiently developed to enable management to make an estimate of such restructuring charges at March 31, 2014.