Other Expenses (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Other Income and Expenses [Abstract]

Other Expenses

Information on other expenses was as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
	(In millions)
Employee related costs	$	921		$	935		$	2,752		$	2,751
Third party staffing costs	435			413			1,217			1,173
General and administrative expenses	290			229			884			768
Pension, postretirement and postemployment benefit costs	45			86			141			241
Premium taxes, other taxes, and licenses & fees	193			145			559			468
Commissions and other variable expenses	1,403			1,393			4,257			4,003
Capitalization of DAC	(810		)	(761		)	(2,440		)	(2,218		)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	732			626			2,132			1,945
Amortization of negative VOBA	(7		)	(32		)	(45		)	(113		)
Interest expense on debt	267			284			862			851
Total other expenses	$	3,469		$	3,318		$	10,319		$	9,869

Restructuring charges

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. Such restructuring charges were as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
	Severance
	(In millions)
Balance, beginning of period	$	20		$	17		$	22		$	35
Restructuring charges	17			3			35			25
Cash payments	(17		)	(3		)	(37		)	(43		)
Balance, end of period	$	20		$	17		$	20		$	17
Total restructuring charges incurred since inception of initiative	$	108		$	60		$	108		$	60