10. Retirement Benefit Plans

The Company has non-contributory defined benefit pension plans covering most U.S. employees. Plan benefits are generally based upon age at retirement, years of service and, for its salaried plan, the level of compensation. The Company also sponsors unfunded non-qualified supplemental retirement plans that provide certain former officers with benefits in excess of limits imposed by federal tax law.

The Company also provides health care and life insurance for retired salaried employees in the United States who meet specific eligibility requirements.

Effective for October 31, 2018, as a result of the collective bargaining agreement between the Frazer and Jones Company, Division of the Eastern Company and the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried (Machine and Furniture Workers) CWA-AFL-CIO pension accruals for the covered employees have been frozen. Under ASC 715, the Company is required to remeasure plan assets and obligations during an interim period whenever a significant event occurs that results in a material change in the net periodic pension cost. The determination of significance is based on judgment and consideration of events and circumstances affecting the pension costs. After consulting with our actuary, although the freezing of benefits under the Frazer and Jones Plan would normally be considered a significant event pursuant to such standard, there was no remaining unrecognized Prior Service Cost as of the date of the freeze, thus, Eastern Company did not increase the expense. In addition, the freezing of benefit accruals did not impact the pension benefit obligation. Thus there was no additional recognition required and a remeasurement was not necessary.

Effective for January 1, 2018, as a result of the collective bargaining agreement between the Illinois Lock Company and the Service Employees International Union Local, 1 C.L.C. pension accruals for the covered employees have been frozen. Under ASC 715, the Company is required to remeasure plan assets and obligations during an interim period whenever a significant event occurs that results in a material change in the net periodic pension cost. The determination of significance is based on judgment and consideration of events and circumstances affecting the pension costs. After consulting with our actuary, the freezing of benefits under the Illinois Lock Plan was considered a significant event pursuant to such standard. As a result, the Company expensed the previously unrecognized Prior Service Cost. The Eastern Company increased the expense by $14,928. The freezing of benefit accruals did not impact the pension benefit obligation. The additional recognition occurred as of the beginning of the fiscal year; thus, a remeasurement was not necessary.

Components of the net periodic benefit cost of the Company’s pension benefit plans for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

	2019			2018
Service cost	$	1,055,410		$	1,319,841
Interest cost		3,510,618			3,107,164
Expected return on plan assets		(4,761,320	)		(5,219,515	)
Amortization of prior service cost		99,380			114,822
Amortization of the net loss		1,162,196			1,110,111
Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,071,984		$	432,423

Assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the Company’s pension benefit plans for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

	2019	2018
Discount rate
- Pension plans	4.20% - 4.22%	3.54% - 3.57%
- Supplemental pension plans	3.81%	3.10%
Expected return on plan assets	7.5%	7.5%
Rate of compensation increase	0%	0%

Components of the net periodic benefit cost of the Company’s other postretirement benefit plan were as follows:

	2019			2018
Service cost	$	33,287		$	37,024
Interest cost		56,755			77,161
Expected return on plan assets		(28,033	)		(55,650	)
Amortization of prior service cost		(5,072	)		(5,072	)
Amortization of the net loss		(47,272	)		(65,591	)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	9,665		$	(12,128	)

Assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the Company’s other postretirement plan for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

	2019	2018
Discount rate	4.26%	3.60%
Expected return on plan assets	4.0%	4.0%

As of December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, the status of the Company’s pension benefit plans and other postretirement benefit plan was as follows:

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	91,533,200		$	98,522,201		$	2,096,761		$	2,423,410
Change in discount rate		12,313,831			(8,319,874	)		239,138			(217,539	)
Service cost		1,055,410			1,319,841			33,287			37,024
Interest cost		3,516,318			3,107,164			56,755			77,161
Actuarial (gain)/loss		(1,508,935	)		531,799			77,813			(89,664	)
Significant Event		--			--			(902,719	)		--
Benefits paid		(3,918,781	)		(3,627,931	)		(35,016	)		(133,631	)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	102,991,043		$	91,533,200		$	1,566,019		$	2,096,761

	2019			2018			2019			2018
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	66,170,875		$	72,098,772		$	1,448,126		$	1,391,239
Actual return on plan assets		11,803,359			(4,827,641	)		13,466			56,887
Employer contributions		304,105			2,527,675			35,016			133,631
Significant Event		--			--			(902,719	)		--
Benefits paid		(3,918,781	)		(3,627,931	)		(35,016	)		(133,631	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	74,359,558		$	66,170,875		$	558,873		$	1,448,126

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
Funded Status	2019			2018			2019			2018
Net amount recognized in the balance sheet	$	(28,631,485	)	$	(25,362,325	)	$	(1,007,146	)	$	(648,635	)

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income consist of:

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
	2019			2018			2019		2018
Net (loss)/gain	$	(36,315,245	)	$	(33,714,584	)	$	499,701	$	1,332,634
Prior service (cost) credit		(265,012	)		(364,392	)		8,253		13,325
	$	(36,580,257	)	$	(34,078,976	)	$	507,954	$	1,345,959

Change in the components of accumulated other comprehensive income consist of:

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Balance at beginning of period	$	(34,078,976	)	$	(33,059,756	)	$	1,345,959		$	1,108,182
Change due to availability of final actual assets and census data		---			---			--			--
Charged to net periodic benefit cost
Prior service cost		99,380			114,822			(5,072	)		(5,072	)
Net loss (gain)		1,162,196			1,110,111			(47,272	)		(65,591	)
Liability (gains)/losses
Discount rate		(12,313,831	)		8,319,874			(239,138	)		217,539
Asset (gains)/losses deferred		7,724,649			(9,531,647	)		(14,567	)		1,237
Significant Event		--			--			(454,143	)		--
Additional recognition due to plan amendment		--			14,928			—			—
Other		826,325			(1,047,308	)		(77,813	)		89,664
Balance at end of period	$	(36,580,257	)	$	(34,078,976	)	$	507,954		$	1,345,959

In 2019, the net periodic pension benefit cost included $1,300,134 of net loss and $99,380 of prior service cost and the net periodic other postretirement benefit cost included $25,509 of net gain and $5,072 of prior service credit. During 2019, the Company bought out certain Retiree Life Insurance benefits for a gain of $454,143.

Assumptions used to determine the projected benefit obligations for the Company’s pension benefit plans and other postretirement benefit plan for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

		2019	2018
Discount rate
-	Pension plans	3.18% - 3.23%	4.20% - 4.22%
-	Supplemental pension plans	2.61%	3.81%
-	Other postretirement plan	3.35%	4.26%

At December 28, 2019 and December 29 2018, the accumulated benefit obligation for all qualified and nonqualified defined benefit pension plans was $102,991,053 and $91,533,200, respectively.

Information for the under-funded pension plans with a projected benefit obligation and an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:

	2019			2018
Number of plans		5			5
Projected benefit obligation	$	102,991,043		$	91,533,200
Accumulated benefit obligation		102,991,043			91,533,200
Fair value of plan assets		74,359,558			66,170,875
Net amount recognized in accrued benefit liability		(28,631,485	)		(25,362,325	)

Estimated future benefit payments to participants of the Company’s pension plans are $4.3 million in 2020, $4.5 million in 2021, $4.7 million in 2022, $4.9 million in 2023, $5.1 million in 2024 and a total of $28.0 million from 2025 through 2029.

Estimated future benefit payments to participants of the Company’s other postretirement plan are $50,000 in 2020, $49,000 in 2021, $50,000 in 2022, $51,000 in 2023, $52,000 in 2024 and a total of $293,000 from 2025 through 2029.

The Company expects to make cash contributions to its qualified pension plans of approximately $2,700,000 and to its other postretirement plan of approximately $50,000 in 2020.

We consider a number of factors in determining and selecting assumptions for the overall expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. We consider the historical long-term return experience of our assets, the current and expected allocation of our plan assets, and expected long-term rates of return. We derive these expected long-term rates of return with the assistance of our investment advisors and generally base these rates on a 10-year horizon for various asset classes and consider the expected positive impact of active investment management. We base our expected allocation of plan assets on a diversified portfolio consisting of domestic and international equity securities and fixed income securities.

We consider a variety of factors in determining and selecting our assumptions for the discount rate at the end of the year. In 2019, as in 2018, we developed each plan’s discount rate with the assistance of our actuaries by matching expected future benefit payments in each year to the corresponding spot rates from the FTSE Pension Liability Yield Curve, comprised of high quality (rated AA or better) corporate bonds.

The fair values of the company’s pension plans assets at December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, utilizing the fair value hierarchy discussed in Note 2, follow:

	December 28,2019
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and Equivalents:
Common/collective trust funds	$	—	$	334,138	$	—	$	334,138
Equities:
The Eastern Company Common Stock		6,625,560				—		6,625,560
Common/collective trust funds
Russell Multi Asset Core Plus Fund (a)		—		33,413,819		—		33,413,819
Fixed Income:
Common/collective trust funds
Target Duration LDI Fixed Income Funds (b)
• Russell 8 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		12,796,482		—		12,796,482
• Russell 14 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		11,387,626		—		11,387,626
STRIPS Fixed Income Funds (c)
• Russell 15 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		3,050,389		—		3,050,389
• Russell 10 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		4,616,924		—		4,616,924
• Russell 28 to 29 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		2,134,620		—		2,134,620
Total	$	6,625,560	$	67,733,998	$	—	$	74,359,558

	December 29, 2018
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and Equivalents:
Common/collective trust funds	$	—	$	306,882	$	—	$	306,882
Equities:
The Eastern Company Common Stock		5,247,495				—		5,247,495
Common/collective trust funds
Russell Multi Asset Core Plus Fund (a)		—		30,611,519		—		30,611,519
Fixed Income:
Common/collective trust funds
Target Duration LDI Fixed Income Funds (b)
• Russell 8 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		5,735,993		—		5,735,993
• Russell 14 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		17,044,596		—		17,044,596
STRIPS Fixed Income Funds (c)
• Russell 15 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		1,811,436		—		1,811,436
• Russell 10 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		3,408,879		—		3,408,879
• Russell 28 to 29 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		2,004,075		—		2,004,075
Total	$	5,247,495	$	60,923,380	$	—	$	66,170,875

Equity common funds primarily hold publicly traded common stock of both U.S and international companies selected for purposes of total return and to maintain equity exposure consistent with policy allocations. The Level 1 investment is made up of shares of The Eastern Company Common Stock and is valued at market price. Level 2 investments include commingled funds valued at unit values provided by the investment managers, which are based on the fair value of the underlying publicly traded securities.

(a)

The investment objective of the RITC (formerly Russell) Multi-Asset Core Plus Fund seeks to provide long-term growth of capital over a market cycle by offering a diversified portfolio of funds and separate accounts investing in global stock, return seeking fixed income, commodities, global real estate and opportunistic investments. They hold a dynamic mix of underlying Russell Investments funds and/or separate accounts. Russell Investments is a strong proponent of disciplined strategic asset allocation and rebalancing strategies, and believes that unstable movements in the market have the potential to create opportunities. By identifying short-term mispricing, and making small tactical adjustments to the Multi-Asset Core Plus Fund, they believe there is potential to enhance returns while continuing to manage risks.

(b)

The Target Duration LDI Fixed Income Funds seek to outperform their respective Barclays-Russell LDI Indexes over a full market cycle. These Funds invest primarily in investment grade corporate bonds that closely match those found in discount curves used to value U.S. pension liabilities. They seek to provide additional incremental return through modest interest rate timing, security selection and tactical use of non-credit sectors. Generally, for use in combination with other bond funds to gain additional credit exposure, with the goal of reducing the mismatch between a plan’s assets and liabilities.

(c)

The STRIPS (Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities) Funds seek to provide duration and Treasury exposure by investing in an optimized subset of the STRIPS universe with a similar duration profile as the Barclays U.S. Treasury STRIPS 10-11 year, 16-16 year or 28-29 year Index. These passively managed funds are generally used with other bond funds to add additional duration to the asset portfolio. This will help reduce the mismatch between a plan’s assets and liabilities.

The investment portfolio contains a diversified blend of common stocks, bonds, cash equivalents, and other investments, which may reflect varying rates of return. The investments are further diversified within each asset classification. The portfolio diversification provides protection against a single security or class of securities having a disproportionate impact on aggregate performance. The Company has elected to change its investment strategy to better match the assets with the underlying plan liabilities. Currently, the long-term target allocations for plan assets are 50% in equities and 50% in fixed income although the actual plan asset allocations may be within a range around these targets. The actual asset allocations are reviewed and rebalanced on a periodic basis to maintain the target allocations. It is expected that, as the funded status of the plans improves, more assets will be invested in long-duration fixed income instruments.

The plans’ assets include 217,018 shares of the common stock of the Company having a market value of $6,625,560 and $5,247,495 at December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, respectively. No shares were purchased in 2019 or 2018 nor were and shares sold in either period. Dividends received during 2019 and 2018 on the common stock of the Company were $95,488 and $95,488 respectively.

U.S. salaried and non-union hourly employees and most employees of the Company’s Canadian subsidiaries are covered by defined contribution plans.

The Company has a contributory savings plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code covering substantially all U.S. non-union employees. This plan allows participants to make voluntary contributions of up to 100% of their annual compensation on a pretax basis, subject to IRS limitations. The plan provides for contributions by the Company at its discretion.

The Company amended the Eastern Company Savings and Investment Plan (“401(k) Plan Amendment”) effective June 1, 2016. The 401(k) Plan Amendment increased this match to 50% of the first 6% of contributions for the remainder of Fiscal 2016. The 401(k) Plan Amendment also provided for an additional non-discretionary contribution (the “transitional credit”) for certain non-union U.S. employees who were eligible to participate in the Salaried Plan. The amount of this non-discretionary contribution ranges from 0% to 4% of wages, based on the age of the individual on June 1, 2016. The 401(k) Plan Amendment increased the non-discretionary safe harbor contribution to 3%, and changed the eligibility to all non-union U.S. employees.

The Company made contributions to the plan as follows:

	2019		2018
Regular matching contributions	$	540,693	$	551,046
Transitional credit contributions		305,226		349,062
Non-discretionary contributions		638,745		578,373
Total contributions made for the period	$	1,484,664	$	1,478,481

At December 28, 2019, the Company had accrued $550,286 for the non-discretionary safe harbor contribution this amount was expensed in 2019 and was contributed to the plan in January 2020. At December 29, 2018, the Company had accrued $565,748 for the non-discretionary safe harbor contribution. This amount was contributed to the Plan in January 2019 and was expensed in 2018.