8.	POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

Defined Benefit Pension Plans

The Company sponsors various funded qualified and unfunded non-qualified defined benefit pension plans, the most significant of which cover employees in the U.S. and U.K. locations. The U.S. and U.K. defined benefit pension plans are frozen and service benefits are no longer being accrued.

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost

	UNITED STATES						UNITED KINGDOM
(In thousands)	Three Months Ended March 31						Three Months Ended March 31
	2017			2016			2017			2016
Interest cost	$	1,661		$	1,729		$	143		$	193
Expected return on plan assets		(2,321	)		(2,254	)		(192	)		(238	)
Amortization of net actuarial loss		788			882			92			20
Net periodic benefit cost (income)	$	128		$	357		$	43		$	(25	)

Employer Contributions

U.S. Plans

As a result of pension funding relief provisions included in the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014, the Company expects to make no 2017 contributions to the funded U.S. qualified defined benefit plans. Approximately $312,000 is expected to be paid related to the unfunded non-qualified plans in 2017. Of such amount, $143,000 had been paid related to the non-qualified plans as of March 31, 2017.

U.K. Plan

The Company’s U. K. subsidiary expects to contribute approximately $300,000 to its defined benefit pension plan in 2017. Of such amount, $123,000 had been contributed to the plan as of March 31, 2017.

Defined Contribution Plans

The Company sponsors retirement savings defined contribution plans that cover U.S. and U.K. employees. The Company also sponsors a qualified profit sharing plan for its U.S. employees. The retirement savings and profit sharing defined contribution plans include a qualified plan and a non-qualified supplemental executive plan.

Defined contribution plan expenses for the Company’s retirement savings and profit sharing plans were as follows:

(In thousands)	Three Months Ended March 31
	2017		2016
Retirement savings plans	$	1,259	$	1,291
Profit sharing plan		1,843		1,717
Total defined contribution expense	$	3,102	$	3,008

The Company funds the obligations of its non-qualified supplemental executive defined contribution plans (supplemental plans) through a rabbi trust. The trust comprises various mutual fund investments selected by the participants of the supplemental plans. In accordance with the accounting guidance for rabbi trust arrangements, the assets of the trust and the obligations of the supplemental plans are reported on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company elected the fair value option for the mutual fund investment assets so that offsetting changes in the mutual fund values and defined contribution plan obligations would be recorded in earnings in the same period. Therefore, the mutual funds are reported at fair value with any subsequent changes in fair value recorded in the consolidated statements of income. The liabilities related to the supplemental plans increase (i.e., supplemental plan expense is recognized) when the value of the trust assets appreciates and decrease when the value of the trust assets declines (i.e., supplemental plan income is recognized). At March 31, 2017, the balance of the trust assets was $1,846,000, which equaled the balance of the supplemental plan liabilities (see the long-term investments section in Note 3 for further information regarding the Company’s mutual fund assets).