Postretirement Benefit Plans

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

The following tables present a summary of post-retirement benefit costs by component.

Components of Post-Retirement Benefit Costs



	Three Months Ended June 30,
	Pension Benefits						Other Benefits
	2015			2014			2015		2014
Service cost	$	3,991		$	3,231		$	—	$	(7	)
Interest cost	5,004			4,819			204		150
Expected return on assets	(5,323		)	(4,752		)	—		—
Amortization:
Prior service cost	82			529			—		—
Actuarial (gain) loss	3,534			2,047			37		—
Direct recognition of expense	—			—			151		(42		)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	7,288		$	5,874		$	392	$	101

	Six Months Ended June 30,
	Pension Benefits						Other Benefits
	2015			2014			2015		2014
Service cost	$	7,981		$	6,463		$	—	$	49
Interest cost	10,006			9,638			407		297
Expected return on assets	(10,646		)	(9,505		)	—		—
Amortization:
Prior service cost	163			1,057			—		—
Actuarial (gain)/loss	7,068			4,092			60		—
Direct recognition of expense	—			—			327		(104		)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	14,572		$	11,745		$	794	$	242

The following chart presents assets at fair value for the defined-benefit pension plans at June 30, 2015 and the prior-year end.

Pension Assets by Component



	June 30, 2015			December 31, 2014
	Amount		%	Amount		%
Corporate debt	$	155,642	48	$	166,825	52
Other fixed maturities	277		—	284		—
Equity securities	127,530		40	127,568		39
Short-term investments	19,047		6	9,038		3
Guaranteed annuity contract	15,259		5	15,027		5
Other	3,063		1	4,156		1
Total	$	320,818	100	$	322,898	100

The liability for the funded defined-benefit pension plans was $394 million at June 30, 2015 and $403 million at December 31, 2014. Cash contributions of $12 million were made to the qualified pension plans during the six months ended June 30, 2015. Torchmark expects to make cash contributions to these plans during 2015 in an amount not to exceed $20 million. With respect to the Company’s non-qualified supplemental retirement plan, life insurance policies on the lives of plan participants have been established with an unaffiliated carrier to fund a portion of the Company’s obligations under the plan. These policies, as well as investments deposited with an unaffiliated trustee, were previously placed in a Rabbi Trust to provide for payment of the plan obligations. At June 30, 2015, the combined value of the insurance policies and investments in the Rabbi Trust to support plan liabilities were $78 million, compared with $74 million at year-end 2014. Since this plan is non-qualified, the values of the insurance policies and investments are recorded as other assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are not included in the chart of plan assets above. The liability for the non-qualified pension plan was $73 million at June 30, 2015 and $71 million at December 31, 2014.