Retirement Benefits

The Company maintains qualified and non-qualified defined benefit pension plans for its U.S. and non-U.S. eligible employees. The Company’s policy for funding its tax qualified defined benefit retirement plans is to contribute amounts at least sufficient to meet the funding requirements set forth by U.S. law and the laws of the non-U.S. jurisdictions in which the Company offers defined benefit plans.

The target asset allocation for the U.S. Plan is 58% equities and equity alternatives and 42% fixed income. As of September 30, 2013, the actual allocation for the U.S. Plan was 62% equities and equity alternatives and 38% fixed income. The target asset allocation for the U.K. Plans, which comprises approximately 83% of non-U.S. Plan assets, is 53% equities and equity alternatives and 47% fixed income. As of September 30, 2013, the actual allocation for the U.K. Plan was 50% equities and equity alternatives and 50% fixed income. The assets of the Company's defined benefit plans are diversified and are managed in accordance with applicable laws and with the goal of maximizing the plans' real return within acceptable risk parameters. The Company uses threshold-based portfolio re-balancing to ensure the actual portfolio remains consistent with target asset allocation ranges.

The components of the net periodic benefit cost for defined benefit and other post-retirement plans are as follows:



Combined U.S. and significant non-U.S. Plans	Pension						Postretirement
For the Three Months Ended September 30,	Benefits						Benefits
(In millions of dollars)	2013			2012			2013		2012
Service cost	$	63		$	59		$	2	$	1
Interest cost	144			148			2		3
Expected return on plan assets	(227		)	(225		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service credit	(5		)	(4		)	—		(3		)
Recognized actuarial loss	79			67			—		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	54		$	45		$	4	$	1

Combined U.S. and significant non-U.S. Plans	Pension						Postretirement
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,	Benefits						Benefits
(In millions of dollars)	2013			2012			2013		2012
Service cost	$	188		$	180		$	4	$	3
Interest cost	433			445			8		9
Expected return on plan assets	(680		)	(676		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service credit	(16		)	(14		)	—		(9		)
Recognized actuarial loss	237			201			1		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	162		$	136		$	13	$	3

U.S. Plans only	Pension						Postretirement
For the Three Months Ended September 30,	Benefits						Benefits
(In millions of dollars)	2013			2012			2013		2012
Service cost	$	26		$	23		$	1	$	1
Interest cost	57			57			1		2
Expected return on plan assets	(81		)	(80		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service credit	(4		)	(4		)	—		(3		)
Recognized actuarial loss	52			38			—		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	50		$	34		$	2	$	—



U.S. Plans only	Pension						Postretirement
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,	Benefits						Benefits
(In millions of dollars)	2013			2012			2013		2012
Service cost	$	78		$	70		$	2	$	2
Interest cost	171			172			5		6
Expected return on plan assets	(243		)	(241		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service credit	(12		)	(12		)	—		(9		)
Recognized actuarial loss (gain)	156			114			—		(1		)
Net periodic benefit cost (credit)	$	150		$	103		$	7	$	(2	)




Significant non-U.S. Plans only	Pension						Postretirement
For the Three Months Ended September 30,	Benefits						Benefits
(In millions of dollars)	2013			2012			2013		2012
Service cost	$	37		$	36		$	1	$	—
Interest cost	87			91			1		1
Expected return on plan assets	(146		)	(145		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service credit	(1		)	—			—		—
Recognized actuarial loss	27			29			—		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	4		$	11		$	2	$	1



Significant non-U.S. Plans only	Pension						Postretirement
For the Nine Months Ended September 30,	Benefits						Benefits
(In millions of dollars)	2013			2012			2013		2012
Service cost	$	110		$	110		$	2	$	1
Interest cost	262			273			3		3
Expected return on plan assets	(437		)	(435		)	—		—
Amortization of prior service cost	(4		)	(2		)	—		—
Recognized actuarial loss	81			87			1		1
Net periodic benefit cost	$	12		$	33		$	6	$	5

The weighted average actuarial assumptions utilized to calculate the net periodic benefit costs for the U.S. and significant non-U.S. defined benefit plans are as follows:



Combined U.S. and significant non-U.S. Plans	Pension Benefits				Postretirement Benefits
September 30,	2013		2012		2013		2012
Weighted average assumptions:
Expected return on plan assets	7.66	%	8.04	%	—	%	—	%
Discount rate	4.38	%	4.91	%	4.32	%	5.05	%
Rate of compensation increase	2.43	%	3.09	%	—	%	—	%

The Company made approximately $552 million of contributions to its U.S. and non-U.S. defined benefit plans in the first nine months of 2013, including $250 million to its U.K. pension plans to pre-fund all or a substantial portion of any deficit funding contributions that may be required from 2014 through 2016 as a result of negotiations with the Trustee of its U.K. pension plans. The Company also made discretionary contributions of $70 million to its Canadian pension plans. The Company expects to contribute approximately $102 million to its non-qualified U.S. pension and non-U.S. pension plans during the remainder of 2013.