156 NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF AEGON N.V.  NOTE 7 - 7.1 Amortization and depreciation through the income statement is  included in ‘Commissions and expenses’. None of the intangible  assets have titles that are restricted or have been pledged as  security for liabilities. Impairments of goodwill and future servicing rights related  to the wind-down of small bank Bank-Owned Life  Insurance / Corporate Owned Life Insurance (BOLI / COLI)  business in the Americas and unfavourable pension legislation  changes in Hungary. Of additions to goodwill in 2009 of EUR 6  million, an amount of EUR 3 million, EUR 1 million and EUR 2  million relates to acquisitions in Romania, United States and the  Netherlands respectively. Refer to note 50 for further  The goodwill balance has been allocated across the cash- generating units which are expected to benefit from the  synergies inherent in the goodwill. Goodwill is tested for  impairment both annually and in addition, when there are  specific indicators of a potential impairment. The recoverable  amount is the higher of the value in use and fair value less costs  to sell for a cash-generating unit. A geographical summary of  the cash-generating units to which the goodwill is allocated  is as follows: information on the business combinations entered into by  AEGON in 2009 and 2010.  2010 2009 Americas - USA 110 210 New Markets - Spain 342 336 - Central & Eastern Europe 106 107 Other 94 67 AT DECEMBER 31 652 720 Goodwill in AEGON USA is allocated to its divisions. Value in use calculations have been actuarially determined  based on business plans covering a period of typically 5 years  and pre-tax risk adjusted discount rates. The value in use test in  the USA for the Individual savings & retirement cash generating  unit (EUR 109 million) assumes business plans covering a period  of 5 years further extrapolated to 10 years where the new  business levels for years 6-10 assumed a 5% growth rate,  pre-tax risk adjusted discount rate of 17% (2009: 17%). All the cash-generating units tested showed that the  recoverable amounts were higher than their carrying values,  including goodwill. A reasonably possible change in any key  assumption is not expected to cause the carrying value of the  cash-generating units to exceed its recoverable amount.  The fair value less cost to sell for our business in AEGON Spain  were based on business plans covering a period of 5 years,  pre-tax risk adjusted discount rate of 11% and assumptions for  future premiums, commissions, inflation, persistency, mortality,  morbidity and future investment returns in line with AEGON’s  European embedded value assumptions. With the exception of goodwill, all intangible assets have a  finite useful life and are amortized accordingly. VOBA and  future servicing rights are amortized over the term of the  related insurance contracts, which can vary significantly  depending on the maturity of the acquired portfolio. The VOBA  currently recognized is amortized over an average period of  12 to 16 years, with an average remaining amortization period  of 11 years (2009: 11 years). Future servicing rights are  amortized over an average period up to 35 years, of which  14 remains at December 31, 2010 (2009: 13 years). Software is  generally depreciated over a period of three to five years.  At December 31, 2010, the remaining depreciation period was  3 years (2009: 2 years). Fair value less costs to sell calculations were estimated based  on the appraisal value for the cash-generating units using  embedded value principles. Appraisal value represents available  net asset value and the shareholders’ interest in the long-term  business plus a multiple of the value of new business. Key  assumptions used for the calculation were pre-tax risk adjusted  discount rates of 11% (2009: 11%), future premiums,  commissions, inflation, persistency, mortality, morbidity and  future investment returns. The operating assumptions used in all the calculations are best  estimate assumptions and based on historical data where  available. The economic assumptions used in all the calculations  are based on observable market data and projections of  future trends. 