RETIREMENT FUND AND PROFIT SHARING PLAN

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

RETIREMENT FUND AND PROFIT SHARING PLAN [Abstract]

RETIREMENT FUND AND PROFIT SHARING PLAN

13.         RETIREMENT FUND AND PROFIT SHARING PLAN

The Company maintains the Bel Fuse Inc. Employees’ Savings Plan, a defined contribution plan that is intended to meet the applicable requirements for tax-qualification under sections 401(a) and (k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Employees’ Savings Plan allows eligible employees to voluntarily contribute a percentage of their eligible compensation, subject to Code limitations, which contributions are matched by the Company. For plan years beginning on and after January 1, 2012, the Company’s matching contributions are equal to 100% of the first 1% of compensation contributed by participants, and 50% of the next 5% of compensation contributed by participants. For plan years prior to January 1, 2012, the Company’s matching contributions were limited to $350 per participant and the Company made discretionary profit sharing contributions on behalf of eligible participants in amounts determined by the Company’s board of directors. Prior to January 1, 2012, the Company’s matching and profit sharing contributions were invested in shares of Bel Fuse Inc. Class A and Class B common stock. Effective January 1, 2012, Company matching contributions are made in cash and invested in accordance with participant’s instructions in various investment funds offered under the Employees’ Savings Plan other than Bel Fuse Inc. common stock. The expense for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 amounted to $0.4 million, $0.5 million and $0.9 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2013, the plan owned 14,899 and 190,039 shares of Bel Fuse Inc. Class A and Class B common stock, respectively.

The Company's subsidiaries in Asia have a retirement fund covering substantially all of their Hong Kong based full-time employees.  Eligible employees contribute up to 5% of salary to the fund.  In addition, the Company must contribute a minimum of 5% of eligible salary, as determined by Hong Kong government regulations.  The Company currently contributes 7% of eligible salary in cash or Company stock.  The expense for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 amounted to approximately $0.3 million in each year. As of December 31, 2013, the plan owned 3,323 and 17,342 shares of Bel Fuse Inc. Class A and Class B common stock, respectively.

The SERP is designed to provide a limited group of key management and highly compensated employees of the Company with supplemental retirement and death benefits.  Participants in the SERP are selected by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors.   The SERP initially became effective in 2002 and was amended and restated in April 2007 to conform with applicable requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and to modify the provisions regarding benefits payable in connection with a change in control of the Company.  The Plan is unfunded.  Benefits under the SERP are payable from the general assets of the Company, but the Company has established a rabbi trust which includes certain life insurance policies in effect on participants as well as other investments to partially cover the Company’s obligations under the Plan.

The benefits available under the Plan vary according to when and how the participant terminates employment with the Company.  If a participant retires (with the prior written consent of the Company) on his normal retirement date (65 years old, 20 years of service, and 5 years of Plan participation), his normal retirement benefit under the Plan would be annual payments equal to 40% of his average base compensation (calculated using compensation from the highest five consecutive calendar years of Plan participation), payable in monthly installments for the remainder of his life.  If a participant retires early from the Company (55 years old, 20 years of service, and five years of Plan participation), his early retirement benefit under the Plan would be an amount (i) calculated as if his early retirement date were in fact his normal retirement date, (ii) multiplied by a fraction, with the numerator being the actual years of service the participant has with the Company and the denominator being the years of service the participant would have had if he had retired at age 65, and (iii) actuarially reduced to reflect the early retirement date.  If a participant dies prior to receiving 120 monthly payments  under  the  Plan,  his  beneficiary  would  be  entitled  to  continue  receiving benefits for the shorter of (i) the time necessary to complete 120 monthly payments or (ii) 60 months.  If a participant dies while employed by the Company, his beneficiary would receive, as a survivor benefit, an annual amount equal to (i) 100% of the participant’s annual base salary at date of death for one year, and (ii) 50% of the participant’s annual base salary at date of death for each of the following four years, each payable in monthly installments.  The Plan also provides for disability benefits, and a forfeiture of benefits if a participant terminates employment for reasons other than those contemplated under the Plan. The expense related to the Plan for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 amounted to $1.3 million, $1.1 million and $0.9 million, respectively.

Net Periodic Benefit Cost

The net periodic benefit cost related to the SERP consisted of the following components during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 (dollars in thousands):

	2013		2012		2011
Service Cost	$	556	$	438	$	371
Interest Cost		448		417		404
Net amortization		307		230		149
Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,311	$	1,085	$	924

Obligations and Funded Status

Summarized information about the changes in plan assets and benefit obligation, the funded status and the amounts recorded at December 31, 2013 and 2012 are as follows (dollars in thousands):

	2013			2012
Fair value of plan assets, January 1	$	-		$	-
Company contributions		-			-
Benefits paid		-			-
Fair value of plan assets, December 31	$	-		$	-
Benefit obligation, January 1		11,045			9,274
Service cost		556			438
Interest cost		448			417
Plan amendments		502			-
Benefits paid					-
Actuarial (gains) losses		(1,721	)		916
Benefit obligation, December 31	$	10,830		$	11,045
Funded status, December 31	$	(10,830	)	$	(11,045	)

The Company has recorded the related liability of $10.8 million and $11.0 million as a long-term liability in its consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.  The plan amendment in 2013 noted above relates to a decision by the Bel Board of Directors to grant past service to certain of the plan participants.  The accumulated benefit obligation for the SERP was $9.2 million and $9.3 million as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.  The aforementioned company-owned life insurance policies and marketable securities held in a rabbi trust had a combined fair value of $11.9 million and $11.1 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.  See Note 6 for additional information on these investments.

The estimated net loss and prior service cost for the defined benefit pension plan that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year is $0 and $0.2 million, respectively.  The Company does not expect to make any contributions to the SERP in 2014.  The Company had no net transition assets or obligations recognized as an adjustment to other comprehensive income and does not anticipate any plan assets being returned to the Company during 2014, as the plan has no assets.

The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, are expected to be paid (dollars in thousands):

Years Ending
December 31,
2014	$	-
2015		264
2016		264
2017		264
2018		264
2019 - 2023		3,443

The following gross amounts are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax (dollars in thousands):

	2013		2012
Prior service cost	$	1,230	$	877
Net loss		1,004		2,884
	$	2,234	$	3,761

Actuarial Assumptions

The weighted average assumptions used in determining the periodic net cost and benefit obligation information related to the SERP are as follows:

	2013	2012	2011
Net periodic benefit cost
Discount rate	4.00%	4.50%	5.50%
Rate of compensation increase	3.00%	3.00%	3.00%
Benefit obligation
Discount rate	5.00%	4.00%	4.50%
Rate of compensation increase	3.00%	3.00%	3.00%