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Pension, Retiree Medical and Savings Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 26, 2020
Retirement Benefits, Description [Abstract]  
Pension, Retiree Medical and Savings Plans Pension, Retiree Medical and Savings Plans
In 2020, lump sum distributions exceeded the total of annual service and interest cost and triggered a pre-tax settlement charge in Plan A of $205 million ($158 million after-tax or $0.11 per share).
In 2020, we adopted an amendment to the U.S. defined benefit pension plans to freeze benefit accruals for salaried participants, effective December 31, 2025. Since 2011, salaried new hires are not eligible to participate in the defined benefit plan. After the effective date, all salaried participants will receive an employer contribution to the 401(k) savings plan based on age and years of service regardless of employee contribution and will have the opportunity to receive employer contributions to match employee contributions up to defined limits. As a result of this amendment, pension benefits pre-tax expense is expected to decrease by approximately $70 million in 2021, primarily impacting corporate unallocated expenses.
In 2020, we approved an amendment to reorganize the U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plans that resulted in the transfer of certain participants from Plan A to Plan I and to a newly created plan, Plan H, effective January 1, 2021. The benefits offered to the plans’ participants were unchanged. The reorganization will facilitate a more targeted investment strategy and provide additional flexibility in evaluating opportunities to reduce risk and volatility. No material impact to pension benefit pre-tax expense is expected from this reorganization.
In 2020, we adopted an amendment, effective January 1, 2021, to enhance the pay credit benefits of certain participants in Plan H. As a result of this amendment, pension benefits pre-tax expense is expected to increase approximately $45 million in 2021, primarily impacting service cost expense.
In 2019, Plan A purchased a group annuity contract whereby a third-party insurance company assumed the obligation to pay and administer future annuity payments for certain retirees. This transaction triggered a pre-tax settlement charge in 2019 of $220 million ($170 million after-tax or $0.12 per share).
Also in 2019, certain former employees who had vested benefits in our U.S. defined benefit pension plans were offered the option of receiving a one-time lump sum payment equal to the present value of the participant’s pension benefit. This transaction triggered a pre-tax settlement charge in 2019 of $53 million ($41 million after-tax or $0.03 per share). Collectively, the group annuity contract and one-time lump sum payments to certain former employees who had vested benefits resulted in settlement charges in 2019 of $273 million ($211 million after-tax or $0.15 per share).
Gains and losses resulting from actual experience differing from our assumptions, including the difference between the actual return on plan assets and the expected return on plan assets, as well as changes in our assumptions, are determined at each measurement date. These differences are recognized as a component of net gain or loss in accumulated other comprehensive loss. If this net accumulated gain or loss exceeds 10% of the greater of the market-related value of plan assets or plan obligations, a portion of the net gain or loss is included in other pension and retiree medical benefits (expense)/income for the following year based upon the average remaining service life for participants in Plan A (approximately 10 years) and retiree medical (approximately 8 years), or the remaining life expectancy for participants in Plan I (approximately 23 years). In 2021, we expect the average remaining service life for participants in Plan A to be approximately 9 years, the remaining life expectancy for participants in Plan I to be approximately 27 years and the average remaining service life for participants in Plan H to be approximately 11 years.
The cost or benefit of plan changes that increase or decrease benefits for prior employee service (prior service cost/(credit)) is included in other pension and retiree medical benefits (expense)/income on a straight-line basis over the average remaining service life for participants in both Plan A and Plan H, except that prior service cost/(credit) for salaried participants subject to the freeze will be amortized on a
straight-line basis over the period up to the effective date of the freeze, or the remaining life expectancy for participants in Plan I.
Selected financial information for our pension and retiree medical plans is as follows: 
 PensionRetiree Medical
 U.S.International  
 202020192020201920202019
Change in projected benefit obligation
Obligation at beginning of year$15,230 $13,807 $3,753 $3,098 $988 $996 
Service cost434 381 86 73 25 23 
Interest cost435 543 85 97 25 36 
Plan amendments(221)15 (17)1 (25)— 
Participant contributions— — 2 2 — — 
Experience loss2,042 2,091 467 515 81 36 
Benefit payments(378)(341)(92)(100)(89)(105)
Settlement/curtailment (808)(1,268)(24)(31)— — 
Special termination benefits19 2 — — — — 
Other, including foreign currency adjustment— — 170 98 1 2 
Obligation at end of year$16,753 $15,230 $4,430 $3,753 $1,006 $988 
Change in fair value of plan assets
Fair value at beginning of year$14,302 $12,258 $3,732 $3,090 $302 $285 
Actual return on plan assets1,908 3,101 401 551 47 78 
Employer contributions/funding387 550 120 122 55 44 
Participant contributions— — 2 2 — — 
Benefit payments(378)(341)(92)(100)(89)(105)
Settlement(754)(1,266)(29)(31)— — 
Other, including foreign currency adjustment— — 169 98 — — 
Fair value at end of year$15,465 $14,302 $4,303 $3,732 $315 $302 
Funded status$(1,288)$(928)$(127)$(21)$(691)$(686)
Amounts recognized
Other assets$797 $744 $110 $99 $— $— 
Other current liabilities(53)(52)(1)(1)(51)(58)
Other liabilities(2,032)(1,620)(236)(119)(640)(628)
Net amount recognized$(1,288)$(928)$(127)$(21)$(691)$(686)
Amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive loss (pre-tax)
Net loss/(gain)$4,116 $3,516 $1,149 $914 $(212)$(285)
Prior service (credit)/cost(119)114 (19)— (45)(32)
Total$3,997 $3,630 $1,130 $914 $(257)$(317)
Changes recognized in net loss/(gain) included in other comprehensive loss
Net loss/(gain) arising in current year$1,009 $(120)$268 $152 $50 $(24)
Amortization and settlement recognition(409)(457)(75)(44)23 27 
Foreign currency translation loss/(gain)— — 42 26 — (1)
Total$600 $(577)$235 $134 $73 $2 
Accumulated benefit obligation at end of year$15,949 $14,255 $4,108 $3,441 
The net loss/(gain) arising in the current year is primarily attributable to the decrease in discount rate, offset by actual asset returns exceeding expected returns.
The amount we report in operating profit as pension and retiree medical cost is service cost, which is the value of benefits earned by employees for working during the year.
The amounts we report below operating profit as pension and retiree medical cost consist of the following components:
•Interest cost is the accrued interest on the projected benefit obligation due to the passage of time.
•Expected return on plan assets is the long-term return we expect to earn on plan investments for our funded plans that will be used to settle future benefit obligations.
•Amortization of prior service cost/(credit) represents the recognition in the income statement of benefit changes resulting from plan amendments.
•Amortization of net loss/(gain) represents the recognition in the income statement of changes in the amount of plan assets and the projected benefit obligation based on changes in assumptions and actual experience.
•Settlement/curtailment loss/(gain) represents the result of actions that effectively eliminate all or a portion of related projected benefit obligations. Settlements are triggered when payouts to settle the projected benefit obligation of a plan due to lump sums or other events exceed the annual service and interest cost. Settlements are recognized when actions are irrevocable and we are relieved of the primary responsibility and risk for projected benefit obligations. Lump sum payouts are generally higher when interest rates are lower. Curtailments are due to events such as plant closures or the sale of a business resulting in a reduction of future service or benefits. Curtailment losses are recognized when an event is probable and estimable, while curtailment gains are recognized when an event has occurred (when the related employees terminate or an amendment is adopted).
•Special termination benefits are the additional benefits offered to employees upon departure due to actions such as restructuring.
The components of total pension and retiree medical benefit costs are as follows:
 PensionRetiree Medical
 U.S.International   
 202020192018202020192018202020192018
Service cost$434 $381 $431 $86 $73 $92 $25 $23 $32 
Other pension and retiree medical benefits (income)/expense:
Interest cost$435 $543 $482 $85 $97 $93 $25 $36 $34 
Expected return on plan assets(929)(892)(943)(202)(188)(197)(16)(18)(19)
Amortization of prior service cost/(credits)12 10 3 — — — (12)(19)(20)
Amortization of net losses/(gains)196 161 179 61 32 45 (23)(27)(8)
Settlement/curtailment losses (a)
213 296 8 19 12 6 — — — 
Special termination benefits19 1 36 — — 2 — — 1 
Total other pension and retiree medical benefits (income)/expense$(54)$119 $(235)$(37)$(47)$(51)$(26)$(28)$(12)
Total$380 $500 $196 $49 $26 $41 $(1)$(5)$20 
(a)In 2020, U.S. includes a settlement charge of $205 million ($158 million after-tax or $0.11 per share) related to lump sum distributions exceeding the total of annual service and interest cost. In 2019, U.S. includes settlement charges related to the purchase of a group annuity contract of $220 million ($170 million after-tax or $0.12 per share) and a pension lump sum settlement charge of $53 million ($41 million after-tax or $0.03 per share).
The following table provides the weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost and projected benefit obligation for our pension and retiree medical plans:
 PensionRetiree Medical
 U.S.International   
 202020192018202020192018202020192018
Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost discount rate 3.4 %4.4 %3.8 %3.2 %4.2 %3.5 %3.2 %4.3 %3.6 %
Interest cost discount rate 2.9 %4.1 %3.4 %2.4 %3.2 %2.8 %2.6 %3.8 %3.0 %
Expected return on plan assets6.8 %7.1 %7.2 %5.6 %5.8 %6.0 %5.8 %6.6 %6.5 %
Rate of salary increases3.1 %3.1 %3.1 %3.3 %3.7 %3.7 %
Projected Benefit Obligation
Discount rate2.5 %3.3 %4.4 %2.0 %2.5 %3.4 %2.3 %3.1 %4.2 %
Rate of salary increases3.0 %3.1 %3.1 %3.3 %3.3 %3.7 %
The following table provides selected information about plans with accumulated benefit obligation and total projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:
 PensionRetiree Medical
 U.S.International  
 202020192020201920202019
Selected information for plans with accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets(a)
Obligation for service to date$(5,537)$(9,194)$(172)$(192)
Fair value of plan assets$4,156 $8,497 $123 $151 
Selected information for plans with projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets
Benefit obligation$(9,172)$(10,169)$(2,933)$(632)$(1,006)$(988)
Fair value of plan assets$7,088 $8,497 $2,696 $512 $315 $302 
(a) The decrease in U.S. pension plans in 2020 primarily reflects the approved reorganization of the U.S. qualified defined benefit plans, resulting in the transfer of obligations and plan assets relating to certain participants from Plan A to Plan I and Plan H.
Of the total projected pension benefit obligation as of December 26, 2020, approximately $854 million relates to plans that we do not fund because the funding of such plans does not receive favorable tax treatment.
Future Benefit Payments    
Our estimated future benefit payments are as follows:
202120222023202420252026 - 2030
Pension$925 $1,080 $915 $960 $990 $5,270 
Retiree medical (a)
$95 $95 $90 $85 $80 $370 
(a)Expected future benefit payments for our retiree medical plans do not reflect any estimated subsidies expected to be received under the 2003 Medicare Act. Subsidies are expected to be approximately $1 million for each of the years from 2021 through 2025 and approximately $4 million in total for 2026 through 2030.
These future benefit payments to beneficiaries include payments from both funded and unfunded plans.
Funding
Contributions to our pension and retiree medical plans were as follows:
PensionRetiree Medical
202020192018202020192018
Discretionary (a)
$339 $417 $1,417 $— $— $37 
Non-discretionary168 255 198 55 44 56 
Total$507 $672 $1,615 $55 $44 $93 
(a)Includes $325 million contribution in 2020, $400 million contribution in 2019 and $1.4 billion contribution in 2018 to fund Plan A in the United States.
In November 2020, we received approval from our Board of Directors to make discretionary contributions of $500 million to our U.S. qualified defined benefit plans. We contributed $300 million of the approved amount in January 2021; we expect to contribute the remaining $200 million in the third quarter of 2021. In addition, in 2021, we expect to make non-discretionary contributions of approximately $160 million to our U.S. and international pension benefit plans and approximately $50 million for retiree medical benefits.
We continue to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related global economic conditions and uncertainty on the net unfunded status of our pension and retiree medical plans. We regularly evaluate opportunities to reduce risk and volatility associated with our pension and retiree medical plans.
Plan Assets
Our pension plan investment strategy includes the use of actively managed accounts and is reviewed periodically in conjunction with plan obligations, an evaluation of market conditions, tolerance for risk and cash requirements for benefit payments. This strategy is also applicable to funds held for the retiree medical plans. Our investment objective includes ensuring that funds are available to meet the plans’ benefit obligations when they become due. Assets contributed to our pension plans are no longer controlled by us, but become the property of our individual pension plans. However, we are indirectly impacted by changes in these plan assets as compared to changes in our projected obligations. Our overall investment policy is to prudently invest plan assets in a well-diversified portfolio of equity and high-quality debt securities and real estate to achieve our long-term return expectations. Our investment policy also permits the use of derivative instruments, such as futures and forward contracts, to reduce interest rate and foreign currency risks. Futures contracts represent commitments to purchase or sell securities at a future date and at a specified price. Forward contracts consist of currency forwards.
For 2021 and 2020, our expected long-term rate of return on U.S. plan assets is 6.4% and 6.8%, respectively. Our target investment allocations for U.S. plan assets are as follows:
20212020
Fixed income51 %50 %
U.S. equity24 %25 %
International equity21 %21 %
Real estate4 %4 %
Actual investment allocations may vary from our target investment allocations due to prevailing market conditions. We regularly review our actual investment allocations and periodically rebalance our investments.
The expected return on plan assets is based on our investment strategy and our expectations for long-term rates of return by asset class, taking into account volatility and correlation among asset classes and our historical experience. We also review current levels of interest rates and inflation to assess the
reasonableness of the long-term rates. We evaluate our expected return assumptions annually to ensure that they are reasonable. To calculate the expected return on plan assets, our market-related value of assets for fixed income is the actual fair value. For all other asset categories, such as equity securities, we use a method that recognizes investment gains or losses (the difference between the expected and actual return based on the market-related value of assets) over a five-year period. This has the effect of reducing year-to-year volatility.
Plan assets measured at fair value as of year-end 2020 and 2019 are categorized consistently by Level 1 (quoted prices in active markets for identical assets), Level 2 (significant other observable inputs) and Level 3 (significant unobservable inputs) in both years and are as follows:
 Fair Value Hierarchy Level20202019
U.S. plan assets (a)
Equity securities, including preferred stock (b)
1$7,179 $6,605 
Government securities (c)
22,177 2,154 
Corporate bonds (c)
25,437 4,737 
Mortgage-backed securities (c)
2119 159 
Contracts with insurance companies (d)
39 9 
Cash and cash equivalents (e)
1, 2278 275 
Sub-total U.S. plan assets15,199 13,939 
Real estate commingled funds measured at net asset value (f)
517 605 
Dividends and interest receivable, net of payables
64 60 
Total U.S. plan assets$15,780 $14,604 
International plan assets
Equity securities (b)
1, 2 $2,119 $1,973 
Government securities (c)
2937 725 
Corporate bonds (c)
2445 331 
Fixed income commingled funds (g)
1509 437 
Contracts with insurance companies (d)
350 42 
Cash and cash equivalents133 24 
Sub-total international plan assets4,093 3,532 
Real estate commingled funds measured at net asset value (f)
202 193 
Dividends and interest receivable8 7 
Total international plan assets$4,303 $3,732 
(a)Includes $315 million and $302 million in 2020 and 2019, respectively, of retiree medical plan assets that are restricted for purposes of providing health benefits for U.S. retirees and their beneficiaries.
(b)Invested in U.S. and international common stock and commingled funds, and the preferred stock portfolio was invested in domestic and international corporate preferred stock investments. The common stock is based on quoted prices in active markets. The commingled funds are based on the published price of the fund and include one large-cap fund that represents 13% and 16% of total U.S. plan assets for 2020 and 2019, respectively. The preferred stock investments are based on quoted bid prices for comparable securities in the marketplace and broker/dealer quotes in active markets. The international portfolio includes Level 1 assets of $2,119 million and $1,941 million for 2020 and 2019, respectively, and Level 2 assets of $32 million for 2019.
(c)These investments are based on quoted bid prices for comparable securities in the marketplace and broker/dealer quotes in active markets. Corporate bonds of U.S.-based companies represent 30% and 28% of total U.S. plan assets for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
(d)Based on the fair value of the contracts as determined by the insurance companies using inputs that are not observable. The changes in Level 3 amounts were not significant in the years ended December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019.
(e)Cash and cash equivalents in the U.S. includes Level 1 assets of $178 million and $159 million for 2020 and 2019, respectively, and Level 2 assets of $100 million and $116 million for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
(f)The real estate commingled funds include investments in limited partnerships. These funds are based on the net asset value of the appraised value of investments owned by these funds as determined by independent third parties using inputs that are not observable. The majority of the funds are redeemable quarterly subject to availability of cash and have notice periods ranging from 45 to 90 days.
(g)Based on the published price of the fund.
Retiree Medical Cost Trend Rates
20212020
Average increase assumed6 %6 %
Ultimate projected increase 5 %5 %
Year of ultimate projected increase
20402039
These assumed health care cost trend rates have an impact on the retiree medical plan expense and obligation, however the cap on our share of retiree medical costs limits the impact.
Savings Plan
Certain U.S. employees are eligible to participate in a 401(k) savings plan, which is a voluntary defined contribution plan. The plan is designed to help employees accumulate savings for retirement and we make Company matching contributions for certain employees on a portion of employee contributions based on years of service.
Certain U.S. salaried employees, who are not eligible to participate in a defined benefit pension plan, are also eligible to receive an employer contribution based on age and years of service regardless of employee contribution.
In 2020, 2019 and 2018, our total Company contributions were $225 million, $197 million and $180 million, respectively.