Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Components Of Income Taxes

The components of income taxes were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
Income tax expense from continuing operations	$	236,669		$	226,166		$	246,475
Income tax expense (benefit) from discontinued operations		0			(467	)		11,830
Shareholders’ equity:
Other comprehensive income (loss)		201,950			284,355			184,305
Tax basis compensation expense (from the exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock awards) in excess of amounts recognized for financial reporting purposes		(22,602	)		(13,121	)		(3,455	)
	$	416,017		$	496,933		$	439,155

Income Tax Expense From Continuing Operations

Income tax expense from continuing operations consists of:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012		2011		2010
Current income tax expense	$	161,332	$	169,500	$	147,346
Deferred income tax expense		75,337		56,666		99,129
	$	236,669	$	226,166	$	246,475

Summary Of Effective Income Tax Rate

The effective income tax rate differed from the expected 35% rate as shown below:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			%			2011			%			2010			%
Expected income taxes	$	268,098			35.0	%	$	253,324			35.0	%	$	262,700			35.0	%
Increase (reduction) in income taxes resulting from:
Tax-exempt investment income		(3,506	)		(.4	)		(3,468	)		(.5	)		(3,371	)		(.5	)
Low income housing investments		(28,877	)		(3.8	)		(24,258	)		(3.4	)		(12,900	)		(1.7	)
Other		954			.1			568			.1			46			0
Income tax expense	$	236,669			30.9	%	$	226,166			31.2	%	$	246,475			32.8	%

Significant Portions Of Deferred Tax Assets And Deferred Tax Liabilities

The tax effects of temporary differences that gave rise to significant portions of the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities are presented below:

	December 31,
	2012		2011
Deferred tax assets:
Fixed maturity investments	$	22,387	$	35,670
Carryover of tax losses		14,177		7,429
Other assets		4,084		5,509
Total gross deferred tax assets		40,648		48,608
Deferred tax liabilities:
Unrealized gains		481,804		276,591
Employee and agent compensation		65,877		57,136
Deferred acquisition costs		791,254		712,974
Future policy benefits, unearned and advance premiums, and policy claims		311,366		355,825
Total gross deferred tax liabilities		1,650,301		1,402,526
Net deferred tax liability	$	1,609,653	$	1,353,918

Reconciliation Of Beginning And Ending Amount Of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits (excluding effects of accrued interest, net of Federal tax benefits) for the years 2010 through 2012 is as follows:

	2012		2011			2010
Balance at January 1,	$	0	$	875		$	3,960
Increase based on tax positions taken in current period		0		0			245
Increase related to tax positions taken in prior periods		0		0			280
Decrease related to tax positions taken in prior periods		0		(875	)		(3,610	)
Decrease due to settlements		0		0			0
Balance at December 31,	$	0	$	0		$	875