Retirement-Related Benefits

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Retirement-Related Benefits

Retirement-Related Benefits

17. Retirement-Related Benefits:

The company offers defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution pension plans, as well as nonpension postretirement plans primarily consisting of retiree medical benefits. The following table provides the pre-tax cost for all retirement-related plans.

					Yr. to Yr.
(Dollars in millions)					Percent
For the three months ended March 31:	2020		2019		Change
Retirement-related plans — cost
Defined benefit and contribution pension plans — cost	$	584	$	437	33.7	%
Nonpension postretirement plans — cost		52		54	(4.1)
Total	$	636	$	491	29.5	%

The following table provides the components of the cost/(income) for the company’s pension plans.

Cost/(Income) of Pension Plans

(Dollars in millions)	U.S. Plans				Non-U.S. Plans
For the three months ended March 31:	2020		2019		2020		2019
Service cost	$	—	$	—	$	95	$	93
Interest cost (1)		375		472		129		208
Expected return on plan assets (1)		(542)		(650)		(309)		(399)
Amortization of prior service costs/(credits) (1)		4		4		(5)		(6)
Recognized actuarial losses (1)		207		140		342		314
Curtailments and settlements (1)		—		—		8		1
Multi-employer plans		—		—		7		9
Other costs/(credits) (1)		—		—		5		5
Total net periodic pension (income)/cost of defined benefit plans	$	44	$	(34)	$	274	$	223
Cost of defined contribution plans		155		149		110		98
Total defined benefit and contribution pension plans cost recognized in the Consolidated Income Statement	$	199	$	115	$	385	$	322

(1) These components of net periodic pension cost are included in other (income) and expense in the Consolidated Income Statement.

The following table provides the components of the cost for the company’s nonpension postretirement plans.

Cost of Nonpension Postretirement Plans

(Dollars in millions)	U.S. Plan				Non-U.S. Plans
For the three months ended March 31:	2020		2019		2020		2019
Service cost	$	2	$	3	$	1	$	1
Interest cost (1)		26		36		10		12
Expected return on plan assets (1)		—		—		(1)		(1)
Amortization of prior service costs/(credits) (1)		1		(1)		0		0
Recognized actuarial losses (1)		7		1		6		3
Curtailments and settlements (1)		—		—		0		0
Total nonpension postretirement plans cost recognized in Consolidated Income Statement	$	36	$	39	$	16	$	15

(1)These components of net periodic pension cost are included in other (income) and expense in the Consolidated Income Statement.

The company does not anticipate any significant changes to the expected plan contributions in 2020 from the amounts disclosed in the 2019 Annual Report.

The table below includes contributions to the following plans:

(Dollars in millions)	Plan Contributions
For the three months ended March 31:	2020		2019
U.S. nonpension postretirement benefit plan	$	136	$	194
Non-U.S. DB and multi-employer plans		82		94
Total plan contributions	$	217	$	288

During the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, $255 million and $256 million, respectively, was contributed in U.S. Treasury securities, which is considered a non-cash transaction (includes the Active Medical Trust).