NOTE 6. PENSION AND POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

Many of our employees are covered by one of our noncontributory pension plans. We also provide certain medical, dental, life insurance and death benefits to certain retired employees under various plans and accrue actuarially determined postretirement benefit costs. Our objective in funding these plans, in combination with the standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), is to accumulate assets sufficient to provide benefits described in the plans to employees upon their retirement. We do not have significant funding requirements in 2020.

We recognize actuarial gains and losses on pension and postretirement plan assets in our consolidated results as a component of “Other income (expense) – net” at our annual measurement date of December 31, unless earlier remeasurements are required.

The following table details pension and postretirement benefit costs included in the accompanying consolidated statements of income. The service cost component of net periodic pension cost (benefit) is recorded in operating expenses in the consolidated statements of income while the remaining components are recorded in “Other income (expense) – net.”