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Retirement-Related Benefits
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Retirement-Related Benefits Retirement-Related Benefits:
The company offers defined benefit (DB) pension plans, defined contribution pension plans, as well as nonpension postretirement plans primarily consisting of retiree medical benefits.
The following tables provide the pre-tax cost for all retirement-related plans.
Yr. to Yr.
(Dollars in millions)Percent
For the three months ended September 30:20232022Change
Retirement-related plans — cost:
   
Defined benefit and contribution pension plans — cost
$250 $6,319 *(96.0)%
Nonpension postretirement plans — cost
33 31 5.3 
Total$283 $6,350 (95.5)%
*Includes the impact of a one-time, non-cash, pre-tax pension settlement charge of $5.9 billion related to the Qualified PPP, as described below.
Yr. to Yr.
(Dollars in millions)Percent
For the nine months ended September 30:20232022Change
Retirement-related plans — cost:
   
Defined benefit and contribution pension plans — cost
$791 $7,252 *(89.1)%
Nonpension postretirement plans — cost
98 97 0.4 
Total$888 $7,350 (87.9)%
*Includes the impact of a one-time, non-cash, pre-tax pension settlement charge of $5.9 billion related to the Qualified PPP, as described below.

Cost/(Income) of Pension Plans

The following tables provide the components of the cost/(income) for the company’s pension plans.
(Dollars in millions)U.S. PlansNon-U.S. Plans
For the three months ended September 30:2023 202220232022
Service cost$— $— $44 $57 
Interest cost*272 282 293 124 
Expected return on plan assets*(382)(432)(363)(246)
Amortization of prior service costs/(credits)*— 2 5 3 
Recognized actuarial losses*27 132 99 247 
Curtailments and settlements*— 5,894 **2 19 
Multi-employer plans— — 4 4 
Other costs/(credits)*— — 3 8 
Total net periodic pension (income)/cost of defined benefit plans$(82)$5,877 $88 $216 
Cost of defined contribution plans150 134 95 91 
Total defined benefit and contribution pension plans cost recognized in the Consolidated Income Statement$68 $6,012 $182 $307 
(Dollars in millions)U.S. PlansNon-U.S. Plans
For the nine months ended September 30:2023 202220232022
Service cost$— $— $133 $180 
Interest cost*817 885 873 394 
Expected return on plan assets*(1,146)(1,382)(1,081)(778)
Amortization of prior service costs/(credits)*0 6 15 10 
Recognized actuarial losses*82 490 302 784 
Curtailments and settlements*— 5,894 **7 38 
Multi-employer plans— — 10 11 
Other costs/(credits)*— — 21 24 
Total net periodic pension (income)/cost of defined benefit plans$(247)$5,893 $281 $663 
Cost of defined contribution plans473 416 283 280 
Total defined benefit and contribution pension plans cost recognized in the Consolidated Income Statement$226 $6,309 $565 $943 
*These components of net periodic pension cost are included in other (income) and expense in the Consolidated Income Statement.
** Reflects the impact of a one-time, non-cash, pre-tax pension settlement charge related to the Qualified PPP, as described below.
Cost of Nonpension Postretirement Plans
The following tables provide the components of the cost for the company’s nonpension postretirement plans.
(Dollars in millions)U.S. PlanNon-U.S. Plans
For the three months ended September 30:2023202220232022
Service cost$1 $1 $1 $1 
Interest cost*29 21 10 8 
Expected return on plan assets*— — (1)0 
Amortization of prior service costs/(credits)*(7)(2)0 0 
Recognized actuarial losses*— 1 0 1 
Curtailments and settlements*— — — — 
Total nonpension postretirement plans cost recognized in the Consolidated Income Statement$23 $21 $10 $10 

(Dollars in millions)U.S. PlanNon-U.S. Plans
For the nine months ended September 30:2023202220232022
Service cost$3 $4 $2 $2 
Interest cost*88 58 29 26 
Expected return on plan assets*— — (2)(2)
Amortization of prior service costs/(credits)*(22)(1)0 0 
Recognized actuarial losses*— 6 (1)3 
Curtailments and settlements*— — — — 
Total nonpension postretirement plans cost recognized in the Consolidated Income Statement$69 $67 $28 $30 
*These components of net periodic pension cost are included in other (income) and expense in the Consolidated Income Statement.
IBM U.S. Pension Plan Change
As described in note 1, “Basis of Presentation,” in September 2022, the Qualified PPP irrevocably transferred to the Insurers approximately $16 billion of the Qualified PPP’s defined benefit pension obligations and related plan assets, thereby reducing the company’s pension obligations and assets by the same amount. This transaction further de-risked the company’s retirement-related plans by eliminating the potential for the company to make future cash contributions to fund this portion of pension obligations being transferred to the Insurers.
Upon issuance of the group annuity contracts, the Qualified PPP’s benefit obligations and administration for approximately 100,000 of the company’s retirees and beneficiaries (the Transferred Participants) were transferred to the Insurers. Under the group annuity contracts, each Insurer made an irrevocable commitment, and is solely responsible, to pay 50 percent of the pension benefits of each Transferred Participant that are due on and after January 1, 2023. The company recognized a one-time, non-cash, pre-tax pension settlement charge of $5.9 billion ($4.4 billion net of tax) in the third quarter of 2022 primarily related to the accelerated recognition of actuarial losses included within AOCI in the Consolidated Statement of Equity.

Plan Contributions
The company does not anticipate any significant changes to the expected plan contributions in 2023 from the amounts disclosed in the 2022 Annual Report.
The table below includes contributions to the following plans:
(Dollars in millions)Plan Contributions
For the nine months ended September 30:20232022
U.S. nonpension postretirement benefit plans$188 $272 
Non-U.S. DB and multi-employer plans*45 85 
Total plan contributions$233 $357 
*Amounts reported net of refunds.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, the company contributed $188 million and $247 million of U.S. Treasury Securities, respectively, to the U.S. nonpension postretirement benefit plan. Additionally, during the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, the company contributed $537 million and $366 million of U.S. Treasury securities, respectively, to the Active Medical Trust. Contributions made with U.S. Treasury securities are considered a non-cash transaction.