Retirement Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Retirement Plans

Retirement Plans

Note 10. Retirement Plans

        The company sponsors several 401(k) retirement savings and profit sharing plans for eligible employees, which are considered "qualified plans" for federal income tax purposes. The company's total expense for the plans was $37.2 million, $22.9 million, and $5.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively. The company's profit sharing component consists of 2% of consolidated pretax earnings plus a unique percentage of each of the company's operating segments' pretax earnings after allocation of certain corporate expenses. The resulting total profit sharing component was $35.1 million, $21.1 million, and $2.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively, of which 50% each year was contributed to the Plans, at the discretion of the company, and the other 50% was paid directly to the Plans' participants.