Retirement Benefits (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

The cost to the company of its retirement benefit plans is shown in the following table:


	Year Ended December 31
	Pension Benefits						Medical and Life Benefits
$ in millions	2023		2022		2021		2023		2022		2021
Components of net periodic benefit cost (benefit)
Service cost	$	236	$	367	$	414	$	5	$	9	$	16
Interest cost	1,568		1,136		1,054		67		47		53
Expected return on plan assets	(2,098)		(2,641)		(2,512)		(85)		(110)		(105)
Amortization of prior service credit	—		—		(9)		(1)		(1)		(1)
Mark-to-market expense (benefit)	442		(1,262)		(1,921)		(20)		30		(434)
Other	—		—		(1)		—		—		—
Net periodic benefit cost (benefit)	$	148	$	(2,400)	$	(2,975)	$	(34)	$	(25)	$	(471)

Changes in unamortized benefit plan costs

The table below summarizes the components of changes in unamortized prior service credit (cost) for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023:


$ in millions	Pension Benefits		Medical and Life Benefits		Total
Changes in unamortized prior service credit (cost)
Amortization of prior service credit (cost)	$	9	$	1	$	10
Tax expense	(2)		—		(2)
Change in unamortized prior service credit (cost) – 2021	7		1		8
Amortization of prior service credit (cost)	—		1		1
Tax expense	—		—		—
Change in unamortized prior service credit (cost) – 2022	—		1		1
Amortization of prior service credit (cost)	—		1		1
Tax expense	—		—		—
Change in unamortized prior service credit (cost) – 2023	$	—	$	1	$	1

Change in plan assets and amounts recognized in the consolidated statements of financial position

The following table sets forth the funded status and amounts recognized in the consolidated statements of financial position for the company’s defined benefit retirement plans. Pension benefits data includes the qualified plans, foreign plans and U.S. unfunded non-qualified plans for benefits provided to directors, officers and certain employees. The company uses a December 31 measurement date for its plans.


	Pension Benefits				Medical and Life Benefits
$ in millions	2023		2022		2023		2022
Plan Assets
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	28,920	$	36,236	$	1,226	$	1,588
Net gain (loss) on plan assets	3,104		(5,422)		146		(257)
Employer contributions	105		101		34		35
Participant contributions	6		7		27		24
Benefits paid	(1,894)		(1,973)		(159)		(164)

Other	10		(29)		—		—
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	30,251		28,920		1,274		1,226
Projected Benefit Obligation
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year	29,067		38,888		1,264		1,685
Service cost	236		367		5		9
Interest cost	1,568		1,136		67		47
Participant contributions	6		7		27		24
Actuarial loss (gain)	1,447		(9,325)		42		(337)
Benefits paid	(1,894)		(1,973)		(159)		(164)

Other	13		(33)		—		—
Projected benefit obligation at end of year	30,443		29,067		1,246		1,264
Funded status	$	(192)	$	(147)	$	28	$	(38)

The increase in the fair value of our plan assets for the year ended December 31, 2023 was principally driven by net plan asset returns of 11.1 percent, partially offset by $2.1 billion of benefit payments. The increase in our projected benefit obligation for the year ended December 31, 2023, was primarily driven by $1.6 billion of interest cost and a 39 basis point decrease in the discount rate from year end 2022, partially offset by $2.1 billion of benefit payments.


	Pension Benefits				Medical and Life Benefits
$ in millions	2023		2022		2023		2022
Classification of amounts recognized in the consolidated statements of financial position
Non-current assets	$	1,042	$	982	$	289	$	240
Current liability	(178)		(177)		(27)		(42)
Non-current liability	(1,056)		(952)		(234)		(236)

Pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of fair value of plan assets

Amounts for pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of fair value of plan assets are as follows:


	December 31
$ in millions	2023		2022
Projected benefit obligation	$	1,152	$	1,126
Accumulated benefit obligation	1,143		1,117
Fair value of plan assets	3		2

Weighted-average plan assumptions

On a weighted-average basis, the following assumptions were used to determine benefit obligations at December 31 of each year and net periodic benefit cost for the following year:


	Pension Benefits						Medical and Life Benefits
	2023		2022		2021		2023		2022		2021
Discount rate	5.15	%	5.54	%	2.98	%	5.20	%	5.57	%	2.93	%
Expected long-term return on plan assets	7.50	%	7.50	%	7.50	%	7.12	%	7.23	%	7.19	%
Initial cash balance crediting rate assumed for the next year	4.02	%	3.96	%	2.25	%
Rate to which the cash balance crediting rate is assumed to increase/decrease (the ultimate rate)	4.02	%	3.88	%	2.25	%
Year that the cash balance crediting rate reaches the ultimate rate	2029		2028		2027
Rate of compensation increase	3.00	%	3.00	%	3.00	%
Initial health care cost trend rate assumed for the next year							6.20	%	6.50	%	5.30	%
Rate to which the health care cost trend rate is assumed to decline (the ultimate trend rate)							5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%
Year that the health care cost trend rate reaches the ultimate trend rate							2028		2028		2023

Plan asset allocation

For the majority of the plans’ assets, the investment policies require that the asset allocation be maintained within the following ranges as of December 31, 2023:


						Asset Allocation Ranges
Cash and cash equivalents						0% - 12%
Global public equities						21% - 41%
Fixed-income securities						35% - 55%
Alternative investments						12% - 32%

The table below provides the fair values of the company’s pension and Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust plan assets at December 31, 2023 and 2022, by asset category. The table also identifies the level of inputs used to determine the fair value of assets in each category. See Note 1 for the definitions of these levels. Certain investments that are measured at fair value using NAV per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient are not required to be categorized in the fair value hierarchy table. The total fair value of these investments is included in the table below to permit reconciliation of the fair value hierarchy to amounts presented in the funded status table. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no investments expected to be sold at a value materially different than NAV.


	Level 1				Level 2				Level 3				Total
$ in millions	2023		2022		2023		2022		2023		2022		2023		2022
Asset category
Cash and cash equivalents	$	85	$	115	$	830	$	1,076					$	915	$	1,191
U.S. equities	1,712		2,138		1		1						1,713		2,139
International equities	1,506		1,784										1,506		1,784
Fixed-income securities
U.S. Treasuries	—		22		3,890		2,977						3,890		2,999
U.S. Government Agency					124		145						124		145
Non-U.S. Government					176		172						176		172
Corporate debt	74		28		4,432		4,717						4,506		4,745
Asset backed					436		353						436		353
High yield debt	13		12		20		19						33		31
Bank loans					15		13						15		13
Other assets	64				43		2		$	2	$	2	109		4
Investments valued using NAV as a practical expedient
U.S. equities													1,294		1,043
International equities													3,972		3,904
Fixed-income funds													4,057		2,569
Hedge funds													38		44
Opportunistic investments													3,176		2,983
Private equity funds													3,466		3,299
Real estate funds													2,123		2,753
Payables, net													(24)		(25)
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the year	$	3,454	$	4,099	$	9,967	$	9,475	$	2	$	2	$	31,525	$	30,146

Estimated benefit payments

The following table reflects estimated future benefit payments for the next ten years, based upon the same assumptions used to measure the benefit obligation, and includes expected future employee service, as of December 31, 2023:


$ in millions	Pension Plans		Medical and Life Plans		Total
Year Ending December 31
2024	$	2,012	$	134	$	2,146
2025	2,058		137		2,195
2026	2,095		131		2,226
2027	2,129		107		2,236
2028	2,151		103		2,254
2029 through 2033	10,820		455		11,275