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Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Benefit Plans Benefit Plans
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 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.
We measure the plan assets and benefit obligations of our pension plans and postretirement plans at December 31 of each year.
We base the discount rates for our plans on a yield curve developed from a model portfolio of high-quality corporate bonds with durations that match the expected future cash flows of the pension and postretirement benefit obligations.
▪Obligations and Funded Status: Benefit obligations, plan assets and funded status for our pension and postretirement plans were as follows at December 31:
PensionPostretirement
(in millions)2023202220232022
Change in benefit obligation:
    Benefit obligation at beginning of year$6,292 $8,544 $1,275 $1,688 
   Service cost
39 64 15 23 
   Interest cost
333 206 65 41 
   Benefits paid
(460)(462)(96)(87)
   Actuarial (gains) losses224 (2,060)(10)(392)
   Plan amendments— — (3)2 
Benefit obligation at end of year6,428 6,292 1,246 1,275 
Change in plan assets:
    Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year6,603 8,793 122 185 
   Actual return on plan assets612 (1,748)13 (35)
   Employer contributions
20 20 — — 
   Benefits paid
(460)(462)(33)(28)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year6,775 6,603 102 122 
    Funded status at December 31
$347 $311 $(1,144)$(1,153)
Amounts recognized on our consolidated balance sheets:
    Other assets
$506 $469 $— $— 
    Other accrued liabilities
(29)(25)(65)(70)
    Accrued pension costs
(130)(133)— — 
    Accrued postretirement health care costs
— — (1,079)(1,083)
$347 $311 $(1,144)$(1,153)
The table above presents the projected benefit obligation for our pension plans. The accumulated benefit obligation, which represents benefits earned to date, for our pension plans was $6.3 billion and $6.1 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Actuarial losses for our pension plans for the year ended December 31, 2023 were due primarily to a lower discount rate. Actuarial gains for our postretirement plans for the year ended December 31, 2023 were due primarily to a planned change in healthcare provider and other items, partially offset by actuarial losses attributable to a lower discount rate. Actuarial gains for the year ended December 31, 2022 for our pension and postretirement plans were due primarily to a higher discount rate.
For pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets at December 31, 2023 and 2022, our accumulated benefit obligation was $142 million and $134 million, respectively. Additionally, at December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no plan assets for these plans.
For pension plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets at December 31, 2023 and 2022, our projected benefit obligation was $159 million and $158 million, respectively. Additionally, at December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no plan assets for these plans.
At December 31, 2023 and 2022, our accumulated postretirement benefit obligations were in excess of plan assets for all postretirement plans.
We used the following assumptions to determine our pension and postretirement benefit obligations at December 31:
PensionPostretirement
2023202220232022
Discount rate5.3 %5.6 %5.2 %5.6 %
Rate of compensation increase - long-term4.0 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— — 20312028
▪Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Income): Net periodic benefit cost (income) consisted of the following for the years ended December 31:
PensionPostretirement
(in millions)202320222021202320222021
Service cost$39 $64 $68 $15 $23 $20 
Interest cost333 206 184 65 41 38 
Expected return on plan assets(485)(493)(522)(8)(13)(14)
Amortization:
Net loss (gain)4 96 131 (2)18 22 
Prior service cost (credit)6 6 5 (40)(45)(46)
Net periodic benefit cost (income)$(103)$(121)$(134)$30 $24 $20 
The following assumptions were used to determine our net periodic benefit cost (income) for the years ended December 31:
PensionPostretirement
202320222021202320222021
Discount rates:
     Service cost
5.7 %3.2 %3.1 %5.7 %3.2 %3.1 %
     Interest cost
5.5 2.5 2.0 5.5 2.5 2.0 
Expected rate of return on plan assets
6.1 6.1 6.6 7.4 7.7 7.7 
Rate of compensation increase - long-term4.0 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 $109 million, $91 million and $90 million in 2023, 2022 and 2021, 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 target 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.
The actual composition of our plan assets at December 31, 2023 was broadly characterized with the following allocation:
PensionPostretirement
Equity securities18 %53 %
Corporate bonds
57 %31 %
U.S. Treasury and foreign government securities and all other investments 25 %
(1)
16 %
(1) Amount includes U.S Treasury and foreign government securities (19%) and asset backed securities and all other investments (6%).
Our pension and postretirement plan asset performance is monitored on an ongoing basis to adjust the mix as necessary to achieve our target allocations.
Substantially all pension and all postretirement assets can be used to make monthly benefit payments.
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 11% of the fixed income holdings or approximately 9% of our total plan assets at December 31, 2023. Our allocation to emerging markets represented approximately 2% of total plan assets at December 31, 2023. For postretirement plan assets, our allocation to below investment grade securities represented approximately 9% of the fixed income holdings or approximately 4% of our total plan assets at December 31, 2023. Also, less than 1% of postretirement plan assets was invested in emerging markets at December 31, 2023.
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 2024 expected rate of return assumptions are 6.1% and 7.4%, respectively.
The fair values of our pension plan assets by asset category were as follows at December 31:
20232022
(in millions)Level 1Level 2TotalLevel 1Level 2Total
U.S. and foreign government securities or their agencies:
U.S. government and agencies$— $1,114 $1,114 $— $1,098 $1,098 
U.S. municipal bonds
— 81 81 — 82 82 
Foreign government and agencies
— 33 33 — 32 32 
Corporate debt instruments:
Above investment grade
— 3,160 3,160 — 2,747 2,747 
Below investment grade and no rating
— 716 716 — 756 756 
Common stock:
International equities
360 — 360 327 — 327 
U.S. equities323 — 323 591 — 591 
Asset backed securities
— 279 279 — 161 161 
Other, net47 154 201 (1)244 243 
$730 $5,537 $6,267 $917 $5,120 $6,037 
Investments measured at NAV as a practical expedient for fair value:
Collective investment funds
U.S. large cap
$388 $312 
U.S. small cap 90 75 
International developed markets55 49 
Total investments measured at NAV$533 $436 
Other(25)130 
Fair value of plan assets, net$6,775 $6,603 
Level 3 holdings and transactions were immaterial to total plan assets at December 31, 2023 and 2022.
The fair values of our postretirement plan assets were as follows at December 31:
2023
2022
(in millions)Level 1Level 2TotalLevel 1Level 2Total
U.S. and foreign government securities or their agencies:
U.S. government and agencies$— $4 $4 $— $5 $5 
Foreign government and agencies
— 2 2 — 2 2 
Corporate debt instruments:
Above investment grade
— 31 31 — 37 37 
Below investment grade and no rating
— 4 4 — 7 7 
Other, net1 3 4 — 3 3 
$1 $44 $45 $— $54 $54 
Investments measured at NAV as a practical expedient for fair value:
Collective investment funds:
U.S. large cap
$44 $47 
International developed markets11 18 
Total investments measured at NAV$55 $65 
Other
2 3 
Fair value of plan assets, net$102 $122 
There were no Level 3 postretirement plan holdings or transactions during 2023 and 2022.
For a description of the fair value hierarchy and the three levels of inputs used to measure fair value, see Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.
Following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for investments measured at fair value.
▪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.
▪Corporate Debt Instruments: Corporate debt instruments 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.
▪Common Stock: Common stocks are valued based on the price of the security as listed on an open active exchange on last trade date.
▪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 that 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, which are valued based on the net asset value (“NAV”), and are 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 2024. However, the foregoing estimates of 2024 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.
Estimated future benefit payments at December 31, 2023 were as follows:
(in millions)PensionPostretirement
2024$494 $96 
2025478 91 
2026478 90 
2027479 90 
2028481 92 
2029-20332,362 461 
Comprehensive Earnings/Losses
We recorded the following amounts in accumulated other comprehensive losses at December 31, 2023:
(in millions)PensionPost-
retirement		Post-
employment		Total
Net (loss) gain$(2,236)$19 $(39)$(2,256)
Prior service (cost) credit(18)256 (5)233 
Deferred income taxes
585 (67)12 530 
Amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive losses$(1,669)$208 $(32)$(1,493)
We recorded the following amounts in accumulated other comprehensive losses at December 31, 2022:
(in millions)PensionPost-
retirement		Post-
employment		Total
Net (loss) gain$(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)
The movements in other comprehensive earnings (losses) for the year ended December 31, 2023 were as follows:
(in millions)PensionPost-
retirement		Post-
employment		Total
Amounts reclassified to net earnings as components of net periodic benefit cost (income):
Amortization:
Net loss (gain)$4 $(2)$6 $8 
Prior service cost (credit)6 (40)— (34)
Deferred income taxes(2)11 (1)8 
$8 $(31)$5 $(18)
Other movements during the year:
Net (loss) gain $(60)$20 $(11)$(51)
Prior service (cost) credit— 3 — 3 
Deferred income taxes16 (10)3 9 
$(44)$13 $(8)$(39)
Total movements in other comprehensive earnings (losses)$(36)$(18)$(3)$(57)
The movements in other comprehensive earnings (losses) for the year ended December 31, 2022 were as follows:
(in millions)PensionPost-retirementPost-employmentTotal
Amounts reclassified to net earnings as components of net periodic benefit cost (income):
Amortization:
Net loss (gain)$96 $18 $13 $127 
Prior service cost (credit)6 (45)— (39)
Deferred income taxes(26)7 (3)(22)
$76 $(20)$10 $66 
Other movements during the year:
Net (loss) gain$(183)$345 $(15)$147 
Prior service (cost) credit— (2)— (2)
Deferred income taxes48 (87)4 (35)
$(135)$256 $(11)$110 
Total movements in other comprehensive earnings (losses)$(59)$236 $(1)$176 
The movements in other comprehensive earnings (losses) for the year ended December 31, 2021 were as follows:
(in millions)PensionPost-
retirement		Post-
employment		Total
Amounts reclassified to net earnings as components of net periodic benefit cost (income):
Amortization:
Net loss (gain)$131 $22 $10 $163 
Prior service cost (credit)5 (46)— (41)
Deferred income taxes(35)7 (2)(30)
$101 $(17)$8 $92 
Other movements during the year:
Net (loss) gain$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