Federal Income Taxes	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Federal Income Taxes [Abstract]
Federal Income Taxes	6. Federal Income Taxes The effective tax rate is the ratio of tax expense (benefit) over pre-tax income (loss). The effective tax rate was 29% and 137% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively. The effective tax rate was 33% for the three months ended September 30, 2019, and was not considered meaningful for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The effective tax rate on pre-tax income is typically lower than the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate of 21% due to benefits from preferential tax items including the separate accounts dividends-received deduction (“DRD”) and tax credits. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the effective tax rate differed from the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate due primarily to the effects of preferential tax items being additive to the tax benefit at 21% on pre-tax losses. For the three months ended September 30, 2019, the effective tax rate differed from the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate due primarily to the effects of preferential tax items being additive to the tax benefit at 21% on pre-tax losses. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, losses reduced pre-tax income to a level that, when computing tax expense at the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate of 21% and then adding the effects of preferential tax items, produced a tax benefit that then resulted in a non-meaningful negative effective tax rate based on the relationship between tax benefit and pre-tax income.

Federal Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

6. Federal Income Taxes

The effective tax rate is the ratio of tax expense (benefit) over pre-tax income (loss). The effective tax rate was 29% and 137% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively. The effective tax rate was 33% for the three months ended September 30, 2019, and was not considered meaningful for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The effective tax rate on pre-tax income is typically lower than the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate of 21% due to benefits from preferential tax items including the separate accounts dividends-received deduction (“DRD”) and tax credits.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the effective tax rate differed from the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate due primarily to the effects of preferential tax items being additive to the tax benefit at 21% on pre-tax losses.

For the three months ended September 30, 2019, the effective tax rate differed from the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate due primarily to the effects of preferential tax items being additive to the tax benefit at 21% on pre-tax losses. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, losses reduced pre-tax income to a level that, when computing tax expense at the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate of 21% and then adding the effects of preferential tax items, produced a tax benefit that then resulted in a non-meaningful negative effective tax rate based on the relationship between tax benefit and pre-tax income.