Restructuring

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Organizational Restructuring

As a result of the closing of the Transaction, the decision to cease new sales following the strategic review of the Company’s Individual Life business and the recently announced additional cost savings targets, the Company is undertaking further restructuring efforts to execute the Transaction, reduce stranded expenses, as well as improve operational efficiency, strengthen technology capabilities and centralize certain sales, operations and investment management activities ("Organizational Restructuring").

These activities have resulted in recognition of severance and organizational transition costs and are reflected in Operating expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, but excluded from Adjusted operating earnings before income taxes. These expenses are classified as a component of Other adjustments to Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes and consequently are not included in the adjusted operating results of the Company's segments. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company has incurred Organizational Restructuring expenses of $49 associated with continuing operations.

The summary below presents Organizational Restructuring expenses, pre-tax, by type of costs incurred, for the periods indicated:



	Year Ended December 31,		Year Ended December 31,		Cumulative Amounts Incurred to Date
	2018		2017		Cumulative Amounts Incurred to Date
Severance benefits	$	15	$	4	$	19
Organizational transition costs	40		—		40
Total restructuring expenses	$	55	$	4	$	59

The aggregate amount of additional Organizational Restructuring expenses expected is in the range of $200 to$300. The Company anticipates that these costs, which will include severance, organizational transition costs incurred to reorganize operations and other costs such as contract terminations and asset write-offs, will occur at least through the end of 2020.

Restructuring expenses that were directly related to the preparation for and execution of the Transaction are included in Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax, in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company incurred Organizational Restructuring expenses as a result of the Transaction of $6 of severance and organizational transition costs, which are reflected in discontinued operations.

The following table presents the accrued liability associated with Organizational Restructuring expenses as of December 31, 2018:



	Severance Benefits			Organizational Transition Costs			Total
Accrued liability as of January 1, 2018	$	4		$	—		$	4
Provision	17			40			57
Payments	(7		)	(31		)	(38		)
Other adjustments⁽¹⁾	(2		)	—			(2		)
Accrued liability as of December 31, 2018	$	12		$	9		$	21

⁽¹⁾Represents net write-downs of accruals, not associated with payments.

2016 Restructuring

In 2016, the Company began implementing a series of initiatives designed to make it a simpler, more agile company able to deliver an enhanced customer experience ("2016 Restructuring"). These initiatives include an increasing emphasis on less capital-intensive products and the achievement of operational synergies.

Substantially all of the initiatives associated with the 2016 Restructuring program concluded at the end of 2018. However, the Company expects to incur approximately $10 to $20 of additional restructuring costs associated with the completion of the information technology transition agreement entered into during 2017.

Total 2016 Restructuring expenses are reflected in Operating expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, but excluded from Adjusted operating earnings before income taxes. These expenses are classified as a component of Other adjustments to Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes and consequently are not included in the adjusted operating results of the Company's segments.

The summary below presents restructuring expense, pre-tax, by type of costs incurred, for the periods indicated:



	Year Ended December 31,						Cumulative Amounts Incurred to Date
	2018		2017		2016		Cumulative Amounts Incurred to Date
Severance benefits	$	9	$	34	$	26	$	69
Asset write-off costs	1		16		—		17
Transition costs	7		17		—		24
Other costs	13		15		8		36
Total restructuring expenses	$	30	$	82	$	34	$	146

The following table presents the accrued liability associated with restructuring expenses as of December 31, 2018:



	Severance Benefits			Transition Costs			Other Costs				Total
Accrued liability as of January 1, 2018	$	30		$	17		$	3			$	50
Provision	13			7			13				33
Payments	(32		)	(10		)	(14		)		(56		)
Other adjustments⁽¹⁾	(3		)	—			—				(3		)
Accrued liability as of December 31, 2018	$	8		$	14		$	2		⁽²⁾	$	24

⁽¹⁾Represents net write-downs of accruals, not associated with payments.

⁽²⁾Represents services performed but not yet paid.