Investments and other assets

Our investments and other assets consisted of the following as of September 30, 2018, and December 31, 2017 (in thousands):



	Sept. 30, 2018		Dec. 31, 2017

Cash value life insurance	$	51,442	$	51,188
Equity method investments	32,651		27,098
Cost method investments	24,212		17,374
Deferred debt issuance cost	10,029		6,048
Other long term assets	37,883		35,458
Total	$	156,217	$	137,166

Cash value life insurance: We are the beneficiary of life insurance policies on the lives of certain employees/retirees, which are recorded at their cash surrender value as determined by the insurance carrier. These policies are utilized as a partial funding source for deferred compensation and other non-qualified employee retirement plans. Gains and losses on these investments are included in Other non-operating expenses within our Consolidated Statement of Income and were not material for all periods presented.

Equity method investments: We hold several strategic equity method investments. Our largest equity method investment is our ownership in CareerBuilder, of which we own approximately 17% (or approximately 10% on a fully-diluted basis), representing an investment balance of $21.6 million as of September 30, 2018.

On May 14, 2018, CareerBuilder sold its subsidiary, Economic Modeling LLC (also known as EMSI). As a result, we received a dividend of $9.9 million in connection with the sale commensurate with our equity ownership in CareerBuilder. Our share of CareerBuilder’s gain on the sale of EMSI was approximately $16.8 million which is included in Equity income (loss) in unconsolidated investments, net, on our Consolidated Statements of Income. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded $15.7 million in equity income from our CareerBuilder investment.