Benefit Plans:

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Income)

Net periodic benefit cost (income) consisted of the following:



	For the Nine Months Ended September 30,												For the Three Months Ended September 30,
	Pension						Postretirement						Pension						Postretirement
	2018			2017			2018			2017			2018			2017			2018			2017
	(in millions)
Service cost	$	61		$	57		$	13		$	12		$	20		$	19		$	4		$	3
Interest cost	207			216			52			57			69			72			15			17
Expected return on plan assets	(438		)	(451		)	(14		)	—			(146		)	(151		)	(5		)	—
Amortization:
Net loss	168			147			16			19			56			49			(1		)	3
Prior service cost (credit)	3			3			(31		)	(28		)	1			1			(10		)	(9		)
Net periodic benefit cost (income)	$	1		$	(28	)	$	36		$	60		$	—		$	(10	)	$	3		$	14

Employer Contributions

Altria makes contributions to the pension plans to the extent that the contributions are tax deductible and pays benefits that relate to plans for salaried employees that cannot be funded under Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regulations. Altria made employer contributions of $19 million to its pension plans during the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Currently, Altria anticipates making additional employer contributions to its pension plans during the remainder of 2018 of up to approximately $25 million, based on current tax law. Altria did not make any employer contributions to its postretirement plans during the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Currently, Altria anticipates making employer contributions to its postretirement plans of up to approximately $70 million in 2018. However, estimates for current-year contributions to Altria’s pension and postretirement plans may be subject to change as a result of changes in tax and other benefit laws, as well as asset performance significantly above or below the assumed long-term rate of return on assets, changes in interest rates or other considerations.