Pension, Postretirement Health Care and Other Benefits

6 Months Ended

Jul. 30, 2011

Pension, Postretirement Health Care and Other Benefits

Pension, Postretirement Health Care and Other Benefits

11.  Pension, Postretirement Health Care and Other Benefits

We have qualified defined benefit pension plans covering team members who meet age and service requirements, including in certain circumstances, date of hire. We also have unfunded, nonqualified pension plans for team members with qualified plan compensation restrictions. Eligibility for, and the level of, these benefits varies depending on team members’ date of hire, length of service and/or team member compensation. Upon early retirement and prior to Medicare eligibility, team members also become eligible for certain health care benefits if they meet minimum age and service requirements and agree to contribute a portion of the cost. Effective January 1, 2009, our qualified defined benefit pension plan was closed to new participants, with limited exceptions.

Net Pension and	Pension Benefits												Postretirement Health Care Benefits
Postretirement Health	Three Months Ended						Six Months Ended						Three Months Ended						Six Months Ended
Care Benefits Expense	July 30,			July 31,			July 30,			July 31,			July 30,			July 31,			July 30,			July 31,
(millions)	2011			2010			2011			2010			2011			2010			2011			2010
Service cost	$	29		$	29		$	58		$	58		$	2		$	3		$	4		$	5
Interest cost	35			32			69			64			1			1			2			2
Expected return on assets	(51		)	(48		)	(102		)	(96		)	—			—			—			—
Recognized losses	18			11			34			22			1			1			2			2
Recognized prior service cost	(1		)	—			(2		)	(1		)	(2		)	(3		)	(4		)	(5		)
Total	$	30		$	24		$	57		$	47		$	2		$	2		$	4		$	4

Even though we are not required by law to make any contributions, we may elect to make contributions depending on investment performance and the pension plan funded status in 2011.

Our unfunded, nonqualified deferred compensation plan is offered to approximately 3,500 current and retired team members whose participation in our 401(k) plan is limited by statute or regulation. These team members choose from a menu of crediting rate alternatives that are the same as the investment choices in our 401(k) plan, including Target common stock. We credit an additional 2 percent per year to the accounts of all active participants, excluding members of our management executive committee, in part to recognize the risks inherent to their participation in a plan of this nature. We also maintain a nonqualified, unfunded deferred compensation plan that was frozen during 1996, covering substantially fewer than 100 participants, most of whom are retired. In this plan, deferred compensation earns returns tied to market levels of interest rates plus an additional 6 percent return, with a minimum of 12 percent and a maximum of 20 percent, as determined by the plan’s terms.

We mitigate some of our risk of offering the nonqualified plans through investing in vehicles, including company-owned life insurance and prepaid forward contracts in our own common stock, that offset a substantial portion of our economic exposure to the returns of these plans. These investment vehicles are general corporate assets and are marked to market with the related gains and losses recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period they occur.

The total change in fair value for contracts indexed to our own common stock recognized in earnings was pretax income/(loss) of $4 million and $(7) million during the three months ended July 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010, respectively, and a pretax loss of $3 million and $1 million for the six months ended July 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010, respectively. For the six months ended July 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010, we invested approximately $29 million and $11 million, respectively, in such investment instruments. This activity is included in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows within other investing activities. Adjusting our position in these investment vehicles may involve repurchasing shares of Target common stock when settling the forward contracts, as described in Note 10.

At July 30, 2011, January 29, 2011 and July 31, 2010, our outstanding interest in contracts indexed to our common stock was as follows:

Prepaid Forward Contracts on Target Common Stock		Contractual
(millions, except per share data)	Number of Shares	Price Paid per Share		Fair Value		Total Cash Investment
July 31, 2010	1.4	$	43.49	$	73	$	62
January 29, 2011	1.2	44.09		63		51
July 30, 2011	1.4	45.43		74		65