PENSION AND OTHER POST-RETIREMENT BENEFITS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Pension And Other Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

PENSION AND OTHER RETIREMENT BENEFITS

NOTE 16. PENSION AND OTHER RETIREMENT BENEFITS

Moody’s maintains funded and unfunded noncontributory Defined Benefit Pension Plans. The U.S. plans provide defined benefits using a cash balance formula based on years of service and career average salary for its employees or final average pay for selected executives. The Company also provides certain healthcare and life insurance benefits for retired U.S. employees. The retirement healthcare plans are contributory; the life insurance plans are noncontributory. Moody’s funded and unfunded U.S. pension plans, the U.S. retirement healthcare plans and the U.S. retirement life insurance plans are collectively referred to herein as the “Retirement Plans”. The U.S. retirement healthcare plans and the U.S. retirement life insurance plans are collectively referred to herein as the “Other Retirement Plans”. The non-U.S. defined benefit pension plan are immaterial.

Effective January 1, 2008, the Company no longer offers DBPPs to U.S. employees hired or rehired on or after January 1, 2008. New U.S. employees will instead receive a retirement contribution of similar benefit value under the Company’s Profit Participation Plan. Current participants of the Company’s DBPPs continue to accrue benefits based on existing plan formulas.

The components of net periodic benefit expense related to the Retirement Plans are as follows:

			Three Months Ended March 31,
		Pension Plans				Other Retirement Plans
		2019		2018		2019		2018
Components of net periodic expense
	Service cost	$	4.3	$	4.8	$	0.7	$	0.7
	Interest cost		5.1		4.4		0.3		0.3
	Expected return on plan assets		(5.0)		(3.8)		-		-
	Amortization of net actuarial loss from earlier periods		0.9		1.6		-		-
	Amortization of net prior service costs from earlier periods		(0.1)		(0.1)		(0.1)		(0.1)
Net periodic expense		$	5.2	$	6.9	$	0.9	$	0.9