Note 6 – Benefit Plans

The Company has defined benefit pension plans covering substantially all of its employees in the United States and certain foreign locations. The Company also provides certain postretirement healthcare and life insurance benefits to qualifying domestic retirees. Other postretirement benefit plans in foreign countries are not material. The measurement date used for the Company’s employee benefit plans is September 30.

Effective January 1, 2013, all plan participants’ benefits in the U.S. defined benefit traditional pension plan, which provided benefits to participants based upon a final average pay formula, were converted to a defined benefit cash balance pension plan. Upon conversion, each individual plan participant received an opening balance equal to the actuarial equivalent of individual benefits accrued under the defined benefit traditional pension plan through December 31, 2012. Following conversion, a participant will subsequently accrue benefits under the cash balance plan through monthly pay credits based upon the plan participant’s age and length of service. Upon approval and communication of this benefit plan amendment to affected employees during the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, the Company remeasured its U.S. defined pension on November 30, 2011 and this interim remeasurement reduced the net pension cost for fiscal year 2012 by $40,200.

The Company’s November 30, 2011 benefit plan remeasurement was based upon a discount rate of 5.1%, compared with the discount rate of 4.9% used on the September 30, 2011 measurement date. The increase in the discount rate reduced total fiscal year 2012 net pension cost by $5,300 and this change in the projected benefit obligation was recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss) as an actuarial gain. An increase in plan assets held as of November 30, 2011 compared with assets held as of September 30, 2011 also reduced total fiscal year 2012 net pension cost by $6,200. Total fiscal year 2012 net pension cost was reduced by $28,700 for negative prior service cost.

Net pension and postretirement cost included the following components for the three months ended December 31:


	Pension Plans						Other Postretirement Benefits
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Service cost	$	20,943		$	23,029		$	1,443		$	1,470
Interest cost		21,684			27,989			2,518			3,215
Expected return on plan assets		(29,084	)		(31,772	)		—			—
Amortization of prior service credit		(3,260	)		(3,370	)		(285	)		(173	)
Amortization of loss		18,731			17,196			977			1,162

Net pension and postretirement cost	$	29,014		$	33,072		$	4,653		$	5,674

Postemployment benefit costs for the three months ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 were $11,694 and $8,995, respectively.