RETIREMENT PLANS (Note)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Retirement Plans [Note Text Block]

NOTE 19 - RETIREMENT PLANS

International Paper sponsors and maintains the Retirement Plan of International Paper Company (the Pension Plan), a tax-qualified defined benefit pension plan that provides retirement benefits to substantially all hourly and union employees who work at a participating business unit. The plan was frozen as of January 1, 2019 for salaried participants.

The Pension Plan provides defined pension benefits based on years of credited service and either final average earnings (salaried employees and hourly employees receiving salaried benefits), hourly job rates or specified benefit rates (hourly and union employees).

Net periodic pension (income) expense for our qualified and nonqualified U.S. defined benefit plans comprised the following: 

	Three Months Ended March 31,
In millions	2022		2021
Service cost	$	23	$	27
Interest cost	84		83
Expected return on plan assets	(162)		(183)
Actuarial loss	21		39
Amortization of prior service cost	6		6
Net periodic pension (income) expense	$	(28)	$	(28)

The components of net periodic pension (income) expense other than the Service cost component are included in Non-operating pension (income) expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

The Company’s funding policy for our pension plans is to contribute amounts sufficient to meet legal funding requirements, plus any additional amounts that the Company may determine to be appropriate considering the funded status of the plan, tax deductibility, the cash flows generated by the Company, and other factors. The Company made no voluntary cash contributions to the qualified pension plan in the first three months of 2022 or 2021. The nonqualified defined benefit plans are funded to the extent of benefit payments, which totaled $5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022.