2. New Accounting Standards

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

The following table provides a description of our adoption of new Accounting Standard Updates (“ASUs”) issued by the FASB and the impact of the adoption on our financial statements:

Standard	Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
ASU 2011-06, Fees Paid to the Federal Government by Health Insurer	This standard addresses the recognition and classification of fees mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The annual fee is imposed on health insurers for each calendar year beginning on or after January 1, 2014, and is payable no later than September 30 of the applicable year. If a fee payment is required, the insurer is required to record the liability in full with a corresponding deferred cost that is amortized to expense using a straight-line method of allocation over the applicable year. The ASU indicates that the annual fee does not meet the definition of an acquisition cost.	January 1, 2014	The amendments in this ASU did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
ASU 2013-08, Amendments to the Scope, Measurement, and Disclosure Requirements (Topic 946, Investment Companies)	This standard provides comprehensive accounting guidance for assessing whether an entity is an investment company through the use of a new two-tiered approach; considering the entity’s purpose and design to determine whether the entity is an investment company. Upon adoption, all entities must be re-evaluated against the new investment company criteria to determine if investment company classification is permitted.	January 1, 2014	The adoption of this ASU did not have an effect on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
ASU 2013-11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists	This standard requires an entity to present unrecognized tax benefits as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward. The standard defines specific exceptions when the unrecognized tax benefit should be presented in the financial statements as a liability and not combined with deferred tax assets.	January 1, 2014	The adoption of this ASU did not have an effect on the deferred tax asset or liability classification on our balance sheet and did not result in any additional disclosures to our financial statements.
ASU 2014-08, Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity	This standard changes the requirements for reporting discontinued operations. The disposal of a component of an entity must be reported as a discontinued operation if the disposal represents a strategic shift that has a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results. The amendments also require entities to provide new disclosures about a disposal of an individually significant component of an entity that does not qualify for discontinued operations presentation. Early adoption is permitted, but only for disposals that have not been reported in financial statements previously issued or available for issuance.	Early adopted as of October 1, 2014	We applied the guidance in this standard to the sale of Lincoln Financial Media (“LFM”) in the fourth quarter of 2014. For more information regarding the sale of LFM, see Note 3.

Future Adoption of New Accounting Standards

The following table provides a description of future adoptions of new accounting standards that may have an impact on our financial statements when adopted:


Standard	Description	Projected Date of Adoption	Effect on Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
ASU 2014-01, Accounting for Investments in Qualified Affordable Housing Projects	Under current GAAP, the use of the effective yield method for investments in qualified affordable housing projects is limited, and may result in certain investments being accounted for under a method of accounting that may not fairly represent the economics of the investment. This standard permits an entity to make an accounting policy election to use the proportional amortization method of accounting if certain conditions are met. The amendments are to be applied retrospectively for interim and annual reporting periods.	January 1, 2015	We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard, and do not expect the adoption to have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers	This standard establishes the core principle of recognizing revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods and services. The amendments define a five-step process that systematically identifies the various components of the revenue recognition process, culminating with the recognition of revenue upon satisfaction of an entity’s performance obligation. Retrospective application is required, and early adoption is not permitted.	January 1, 2017	We will adopt the accounting guidance in this standard for non-insurance related products and services, and are currently evaluating the impact of adoption on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
ASU 2014-11, Repurchase-to-Maturity Transactions, Repurchase Financings and Disclosures	This standard eliminates a distinction in current GAAP related to certain repurchase agreements, and amends current GAAP to require repurchase-to-maturity transactions and linked repurchase financings to be accounted for as secured borrowings; consistent with the accounting for other repurchase agreements. The standard also includes new disclosure requirements related to transfers accounted for as sales that are economically similar to repurchase agreements. The new disclosures are not required for comparative periods before the effective date.	January 1, 2015	We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations and will provide the required disclosures, as necessary, in our first quarter 2015 consolidated financial statements.
ASU 2014-16, Determining Whether the Host Contract in a Hybrid Financial Instrument Issued in the Form of a Share Is More Akin to Debt or to Equity	This standard clarifies that when considering the nature of the host contract in a hybrid financial instrument issued in the form of a share; an entity must consider all of the stated and implied substantive terms of the hybrid instrument, including the embedded derivative feature that is being considered for separate accounting from the host contract. Early adoption of this standard is permitted and application is under a modified retrospective basis to existing hybrid financial instruments that are within the scope of the standard.	January 1, 2016	We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
ASU 2015-02, Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis	This standard is intended to improve consolidation accounting guidance related to limited partnerships, limited liability corporations and securitization structures. The new standard includes changes to existing consolidation models that will eliminate the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership, clarify when fees paid to a decision maker should be a factor in the VIE consolidation evaluation and reduce the VIE consolidation models from two to one by eliminating the indefinite deferral for certain investment funds. Early adoption is permitted including adoption in an interim period.	January 1, 2016	We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.