EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

First Financial sponsors a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan which covers substantially all employees and uses a December 31 measurement date for the plan. Plan assets are primarily invested in fixed income and publicly traded equity mutual funds. The pension plan does not directly own any shares of First Financial common stock or any other First Financial security or product.

First Financial made no cash contributions to fund the pension plan during the six months ended June 30, 2020, or the year ended December 31, 2019, and does not expect to make cash contributions to the plan through the remainder of 2020.

As a result of the plan’s actuarial projections, First Financial recorded expense as set forth in the following table. The amounts are recognized in First Financial’s Consolidated Statements of Income related to the Company's pension plan.

	Three months ended				Six months ended
	June 30,				June 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2020		2019		2020		2019
Service cost	$	1,926	$	1,545	$	3,776	$	3,295
Interest cost	607		689		1,207		1,389
Expected return on assets	(2,464)		(2,409)		(4,939)		(4,859)
Amortization of prior service cost	(102)		(106)		(202)		(206)
Net actuarial loss	559		426		1,084		901
Net periodic benefit cost (income)	$	526	$	145	$	926	$	520