Our subsidiaries sponsor noncontributory defined benefit pension plans covering certain employees of Altria and our subsidiaries. Employees hired on or after a date specific to their employee group, except for certain employees of UST’s subsidiaries and Middleton, are not eligible to participate in these noncontributory defined benefit pension plans but are instead eligible to participate in a defined contribution plan with enhanced benefits. We also provide postretirement health care and other benefits to certain retired employees.


	Pension					Postretirement
(in millions)	2022		2021			2022		2021
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	8,544	$	9,465		$	1,688	$	2,229
Service cost	64		68			23		20
Interest cost	206		184			41		38
Benefits paid	(462)		(465)			(87)		(104)
Actuarial (gains) losses	(2,060)		(523)			(392)		(150)
Plan amendments	—		8			2		(345)
Divestiture	—		(193)		(1)	—		—

Benefit obligation at end of year	6,292		8,544			1,275		1,688
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	8,793		8,911			185		201
Actual return on plan assets	(1,748)		466			(35)		21
Employer contributions	20		26			—		—
Benefits paid	(462)		(465)			(28)		(37)
Divestiture	—		(145)		(1)	—		—
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	6,603		8,793			122		185
Funded status at December 31	$	311	$	249		$	(1,153)	$	(1,503)
Amounts recognized on our consolidated balance sheets were as follows:
Other assets	$	469	$	476		$	—	$	—
Other accrued liabilities	(25)		(27)			(70)		(67)
Accrued pension costs	(133)		(200)			—		—

Accrued postretirement health care costs	—		—			(1,083)		(1,436)
	$	311	$	249		$	(1,153)	$	(1,503)

Actuarial (gains) losses for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 for our pension and postretirement plans were due primarily to changes in the discount rate. Actuarial (gains) losses for our pension plans for the year ended 2021 were further impacted by changes to mortality rate assumptions.

Plan amendments to our postretirement plans for the year ended December 31, 2021 included several plan changes announced in the second quarter of 2021 to our salaried retiree healthcare plans, primarily changing its post-age 65 coverage to a private medicare marketplace. These amendments triggered a plan remeasurement in the second quarter of 2021, resulting in a reduction of $432 million (including discount rate impact and other changes) to our postretirement obligation in the second quarter of 2021 and a corresponding reduction to accumulated other comprehensive losses.

For pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets at December 31, 2022, our accumulated benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets were $134 million and $0 million, respectively. For pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets at December 31, 2021, our accumulated benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets were $176 million and $0 million, respectively.

For pension plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets at December 31, 2022, our projected benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets were $158 million and $0 million, respectively. For pension plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets at December 31, 2021, our projected benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets were $227 million and $0 million, respectively.


	Pension				Postretirement
	2022		2021		2022		2021
Discount rate	5.6	%	3.0	%	5.6	%	2.9	%
Rate of compensation increase - long-term	4.0		4.0		—		—
Health care cost trend rate assumed for next year	—		—		6.5		6.5
Ultimate trend rate	—		—		5.0		5.0
Year that the rate reaches the ultimate trend rate	—		—		2028		2027


	Pension						Postretirement
(in millions)	2022		2021		2020		2022		2021		2020
Service cost	$	64	$	68	$	74	$	23	$	20	$	16
Interest cost	206		184		251		41		38		59
Expected return on plan assets	(493)		(522)		(502)		(13)		(14)		(14)
Amortization:
Net loss	96		131		134		18		22		10
Prior service cost (credit)	6		5		5		(45)		(46)		(30)
Settlement	—		—		10		—		—		—
Net periodic benefit cost (income)	$	(121)	$	(134)	$	(28)	$	24	$	20	$	41


	Pension						Postretirement
	2022		2021		2020		2022		2021		2020
Discount rates:
Service cost	3.2	%	3.1	%	3.7	%	3.2	%	3.1	%	3.6	%
Interest cost	2.5		2.0		3.0		2.5		2.0		3.0
Expected rate of return on plan assets	6.1		6.6		6.6		7.7		7.7		7.7
Rate of compensation increase - long-term	4.0		4.0		4.0		—		—		—
Health care cost trend rate	—		—		—		6.5		6.5		6.5

▪Defined Contribution Plans: We sponsor tax-qualified defined contribution plans covering certain salaried and hourly (non-union and union) employees. Contributions and costs are determined generally as a percentage of earnings, as defined by our plans. Amounts charged to expense for these defined contribution plans totaled $91 million, $90 million and $88 million in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

▪Pension and Postretirement Plan Assets: In managing our pension assets, we implement a liability-driven investment framework that aligns plan assets with liabilities. The current equity/fixed income allocation of 20%/80% is designed to balance pension liability hedging and asset growth in order to maintain our plan’s funded status and cover incremental service accruals and interest cost. Liability hedging is achieved through investing in rate-sensitive fixed income securities, primarily corporate bonds and U.S. Treasuries, while growth assets are comprised of publicly traded equity securities.

Our investment strategy for our postretirement plan assets is intended to maximize our total asset return based on the expectation that equity securities will outperform debt securities over the long term and reflects the maturity structure of our benefit obligation. The equity/fixed income target allocation for postretirement plan assets is 55%/45%.

We believe that we implement these investment strategies in a prudent and risk-controlled manner, consistent with the fiduciary requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, by investing retirement plan assets in a well-diversified mix of equities, fixed income and other securities.

We implement our investment strategy for our pension and postretirement plan assets by investing in long-duration fixed income securities that primarily include U.S. corporate bonds of companies from diversified industries and U.S. Treasury securities that mirror our pension obligation benchmark, as well as U.S. and international equity index strategies that are intended to mirror broad market indices, including, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Morgan Stanley Capital International (“MSCI”) Europe, Australasia, and the Far East (“EAFE”) Index. Our pension and postretirement plans also invest in actively managed international equity securities of mid and small cap companies located in developed and emerging markets. For pension plan assets, our allocation to below investment grade securities represented approximately 13% of the fixed income holdings or approximately 10% of our total plan assets at December 31, 2022. Our allocation to emerging markets represented less than 1% of total plan assets at December 31, 2022. For postretirement plan assets, our allocation to below investment grade securities represented approximately 12% of the fixed income holdings or approximately 5% of our total plan assets at December 31, 2022. There were no postretirement plan assets invested in emerging markets at December 31, 2022.

Our risk management practices for our pension and postretirement plans include (i) ongoing monitoring of asset allocation, investment performance and investment managers’ compliance with their investment guidelines, (ii) periodic rebalancing between equity and debt asset classes and (iii) annual actuarial re-measurement of plan liabilities.

Our expected rate of return on pension and postretirement plan assets is determined by our plan assets’ historical long-term investment performance, current asset allocation and estimates of future long-term returns by asset class. The forward-looking estimates are consistent with the long-term historical averages exhibited by returns on equity and fixed income securities. For determining our pension and postretirement net periodic benefit cost (income), our 2023 expected rate of return assumptions are 6.1% and 7.4%, respectively.


	2022				2021
(in millions)	Level 1		Level 2		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Total
U.S. and foreign government securities or their agencies:
U.S. government and agencies	$	—	$	1,098	$	1,098	$	—	$	1,147	$	1,147
U.S. municipal bonds	—		82		82		—		60		60
Foreign government and agencies	—		32		32		—		88		88
Corporate debt instruments:
Above investment grade	—		2,747		2,747		—		3,442		3,442
Below investment grade and no rating	—		756		756		—		1,032		1,032
Common stock:
International equities	327		—		327		373		—		373
U.S. equities	591		—		591		856		—		856


Asset backed securities	—		161		161		—		89		89


Other, net	(1)		244		243		52		148		200
	$	917	$	5,120	$	6,037	$	1,281	$	6,006	$	7,287
Investments measured at NAV as a practical expedient for fair value:
Collective investment funds
U.S. large cap					$	312					$	873
U.S. small cap					75						462
International developed markets					49						125
Total investments measured at NAV					$	436					$	1,460

Other					130						46
Fair value of plan assets, net					$	6,603					$	8,793


	2022						2021
(in millions)	Level 1		Level 2		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Total
U.S. and foreign government securities or their agencies:
U.S. government and agencies	$	—	$	5	$	5	$	—	$	5	$	5

Foreign government and agencies	—		2		2		—		3		3
Corporate debt instruments:
Above investment grade	—		37		37		—		55		55
Below investment grade and no rating	—		7		7		—		10		10
Other, net	—		3		3		—		—		—
	$	—	$	54	$	54	$	—	$	73	$	73
Investments measured at NAV as a practical expedient for fair value:
Collective investment funds:
U.S. large cap					$	47					$	84
International developed markets					18						25
Total investments measured at NAV					$	65					$	109

Other					3						3
Fair value of plan assets, net					$	122					$	185

▪U.S. and Foreign Government Securities: U.S. and foreign government securities consist of investments in Treasury Nominal Bonds and Inflation Protected Securities and municipal securities. Government securities are valued at a price that is based on a compilation of primarily observable market information, such as broker quotes. Matrix pricing, yield curves and indices are used when broker quotes are not available.

▪Asset Backed Securities: Asset backed securities are fixed income securities such as mortgage backed securities and auto loans that are collateralized by pools of underlying assets that are unable to be sold individually. They are valued at a price which is based on a compilation of primarily observable market information or a broker quote in a non-active over-the-counter market.

▪Collective Investment Funds: Collective investment funds consist of funds that are intended to mirror indices such as Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and MSCI EAFE Index. They are valued on the basis of the relative interest of each participating investor in the fair value of the underlying assets of each of the respective collective investment funds. The underlying assets are valued based on the net asset value (“NAV”), which is provided by the investment account manager as a practical expedient to estimate fair value. These investments are not classified by level but are disclosed to permit reconciliation to the fair value of plan assets.

Cash Flows: We make contributions to our pension plans to the extent that the contributions are tax deductible and pay benefits that relate to plans for salaried employees that cannot be funded under IRS regulations. Currently, we anticipate making employer contributions to our pension and postretirement plans of up to approximately $30 million for each in 2023. However, the foregoing estimates of 2023 contributions to our pension and postretirement plans are subject to change as a result of changes in tax and other benefit laws, changes in interest rates, as well as asset performance significantly above or below the assumed long-term rate of return for each respective plan.


(in millions)	Pension		Post- retirement		Post- employment		Total

Net loss	$	(2,180)	$	1	$	(34)	$	(2,213)
Prior service (cost) credit	(24)		293		(5)		264
Deferred income taxes	571		(68)		10		513
Amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive losses	$	(1,633)	$	226	$	(29)	$	(1,436)


(in millions)	Pension		Post- retirement		Post- employment		Total
Net loss	$	(2,093)	$	(362)	$	(32)	$	(2,487)
Prior service (cost) credit	(30)		340		(5)		305
Deferred income taxes	549		12		9		570
Amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive losses	$	(1,574)	$	(10)	$	(28)	$	(1,612)


(in millions)	Pension		Post- retirement		Post- employment		Total
Amounts reclassified to net earnings as components of net periodic benefit cost:
Amortization:
Net loss	$	96	$	18	$	13	$	127
Prior service cost/credit	6		(45)		—		(39)
Other expense (income):
Net loss	—		—		—		—
Prior service cost/credit	—		—		—		—
Deferred income taxes	(26)		7		(3)		(22)
	$	76	$	(20)	$	10	$	66
Other movements during the year:
Net loss	$	(183)	$	345	$	(15)	$	147
Prior service cost/credit	—		(2)		—		(2)
Deferred income taxes	48		(87)		4		(35)
	$	(135)	$	256	$	(11)	$	110
Total movements in other comprehensive earnings/losses	$	(59)	$	236	$	(1)	$	176


(in millions)	Pension		Post-retirement		Post-employment		Total
Amounts reclassified to net earnings as components of net periodic benefit cost:
Amortization:
Net loss	$	131	$	22	$	10	$	163
Prior service cost/credit	5		(46)		—		(41)
Other expense (income):
Net loss	—		—		—		—
Prior service cost/credit	—		—		—		—
Deferred income taxes	(35)		7		(2)		(30)
	$	101	$	(17)	$	8	$	92
Other movements during the year:

Net loss	$	465	$	157	$	2	$	624
Prior service cost/credit	(8)		345		—		337
Deferred income taxes	(118)		(127)		—		(245)
	$	339	$	375	$	2	$	716
Total movements in other comprehensive earnings/losses	$	440	$	358	$	10	$	808


(in millions)	Pension		Post- retirement		Post- employment		Total
Amounts reclassified to net earnings as components of net periodic benefit cost:
Amortization:
Net loss	$	134	$	10	$	19	$	163
Prior service cost/credit	5		(30)		—		(25)
Other expense (income):
Net loss	10		—		—		10
Prior service cost/credit	—		—		—		—
Deferred income taxes	(37)		5		(5)		(37)
	$	112	$	(15)	$	14	$	111
Other movements during the year:
Net loss	$	(268)	$	(162)	$	(18)	$	(448)
Prior service cost/credit	(5)		(1)		—		(6)
Deferred income taxes	69		41		5		115
	$	(204)	$	(122)	$	(13)	$	(339)
Total movements in other comprehensive earnings/losses	$	(92)	$	(137)	$	1	$	(228)