Other Expenses (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Other Income and Expenses [Abstract]

Other Expenses

Information on other expenses was as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
	(In millions)
Compensation	$	1,189		$	1,310
Pension, postretirement and postemployment benefit costs	80			140
Commissions	1,010			1,134
Volume-related costs	198			266
Capitalization of DAC	(796		)	(981		)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	533			995
Amortization of negative VOBA	(43		)	(99		)
Interest expense on debt	296			312
Premium taxes, licenses and fees	188			215
Professional services	387			330
Rent and related expenses, net of sublease income	81			97
Other	441			473
Total other expenses	$	3,564		$	4,192

Restructuring and Related Costs [Table Text Block]

The Company commenced in 2016 a unit cost improvement program related to the Company’s refreshed enterprise strategy. This global strategy focuses on transforming the Company to become more digital, driving efficiencies and innovation to achieve competitive advantage, and simplified, decreasing the costs and risks associated with the Company’s highly complex industry to customers and shareholders. Restructuring charges related to this program are included in other expenses. As the expenses relate to an enterprise-wide initiative, they are reported in Corporate & Other. Management anticipates further restructuring charges through the year ending December 31, 2019. However, such restructuring plans were not sufficiently developed to enable management to make an estimate of such restructuring charges at March 31, 2017. Such restructuring charges were as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31, 2017
	Severance
	(In millions)
Balance, beginning of period	$	35
Restructuring charges	11
Cash payments	(8		)
Balance, end of period	$	38
Total restructuring charges incurred since inception of initiative	$	46