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Employee Benefits
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]  
Employee Benefits
Employee Benefits

We maintain a number of active defined contribution retirement plans for our employees. The majority of our defined benefit plans are frozen. As a result, no new employees will be permitted to enter these plans and no additional benefits for current participants in the frozen plans will be accrued.

We have supplemental benefit plans that provide senior management with supplemental retirement, disability and death benefits. Certain supplemental retirement benefits are based on final monthly earnings. In addition, we sponsor voluntary 401(k) plans under which we may match employee contributions up to certain levels of compensation as well as profit-sharing plans under which we contribute a percentage of eligible employees' compensation to the employees' accounts.

We also provide certain medical, dental and life insurance benefits for active and retired employees and eligible dependents. The medical and dental plans and supplemental life insurance plan are contributory, while the basic life insurance plan is noncontributory. We currently do not prefund any of these plans.

We recognize the funded status of our defined benefit retirement and postretirement plans in the consolidated balance sheets, with a corresponding adjustment to accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of taxes. The amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss represent unrecognized actuarial losses and unrecognized prior service costs. These amounts will be subsequently recognized as net periodic benefit cost pursuant to our accounting policy for amortizing such amounts.

The components of net periodic benefit cost for our retirement plans and postretirement plans for the periods ended September 30 are as follows: 

Retirement Plans
(in millions)
Three Months
 
Nine Months
 
2017
 
2016
 
2017
 
2016
Service cost
$
1

 
$
1

 
$
2

 
$
2

Interest cost
19

 
19

 
55

 
59

Expected return on assets
(32
)
 
(30
)
 
(95
)
 
(92
)
Amortization of actuarial loss
4

 
4

 
14

 
12

Net periodic benefit cost
$
(8
)
 
$
(6
)
 
$
(24
)
 
$
(19
)

Postretirement Plans
(in millions)
Three Months
 
Nine Months
 
2017
 
2016
 
2017
 
2016
Interest cost
$
—

 
$
1

 
$
1

 
$
2

Amortization of prior service credit / actuarial gain
—

 
(1
)
 
(2
)
 
(1
)
Net periodic benefit cost
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
(1
)
 
$
1


As discussed in our Form 10-K, we changed certain discount rate assumptions on our retirement and postretirement plans, which became effective on January 1, 2017. The effect of the assumption changes on retirement and postretirement expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 did not have a material impact to our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In the first nine months of 2017, we contributed $6 million to our retirement plans and expect to make additional required contributions of approximately $2 million to our retirement plans during the remainder of the year. We may elect to make additional non-required contributions depending on investment performance and the pension plan status in the fourth quarter of 2017.