Pension benefits

U.S. Defined Contribution Pension Plan - The Company has a defined contribution plan qualified under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, pursuant to which substantially all of its U.S. employees are eligible to participate after completing six months of service. Participants may elect to contribute a portion of their compensation to the plan. Under the plan, the Company has the discretion to match a portion of participants’ contributions. The Company intends to match approximately $0.1 million to the plan for the year ended December 31, 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company did not make any matching contributions.

Non-U.S. Pension benefits - The accounting standard for pensions requires an employer to recognize a net liability or asset and an offsetting adjustment to accumulated other comprehensive loss to report the funded status of defined benefit pension and other post-retirement benefit plans.

Most of the non-U.S. subsidiaries provide for government-mandated defined pension benefits. For certain of these subsidiaries, vested eligible employees are provided a lump sum payment upon retiring from the Company at a defined age. The lump sum amount is based on the salary and tenure as of retirement date. Other non-U.S. subsidiaries provide for a lump sum payment to vested employees on retirement, death, incapacitation or termination of employment, based upon the salary and tenure as of the date employment ceases. The liability for such defined benefit obligations is determined and provided on the basis of actuarial valuations. As of December 31, 2017, these plans are unfunded. Pension expense for foreign subsidiaries totaled approximately $0.2 million and $0.3 for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The following table summarizes the amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2017		2016

Amortization of transition obligation	$	38	$	43
Actuarial loss		(226)		(179)
Totals	$	(188)	$	(136)

Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss not yet reflected in net periodic pension cost, net of taxes:

Actuarial gain	$	1,331	$	1,557
Transition obligation		(132)		(170)
Totals	$	1,199	$	1,387

Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss expected to be amortized in 2018 net periodic pension cost, net of taxes:

Actuarial gain	$	(157)
Transition obligation		38
Totals	$	(119)

The following table sets out the status of the non-U.S. pension benefits and the amounts (in thousands) recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of and for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017:

Benefit Obligations:

	2017		2016

Projected benefit obligation at beginning of the year	$	2,896	$	2,840
Service cost		333		368
Interest cost		187		170
Curtailment		(69)		-
Actuarial gain		(107)		(197)
Foreign currency exchange rates changes		51		(142)
Benefits paid		(170)		(143)
Projected benefit obligation at end of the year	$	3,121	$	2,896

Components of Net Periodic Pension Cost:

	2017		2016

Service cost	$	333	$	368
Interest cost		187		170
Curtailment		(69)		-
Actuarial gain recognized		(249)		(315)
Net periodic pension cost	$	202	$	223

The accumulated benefit obligation, which represents benefits earned to date, was approximately $2.0 million and $1.5 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Actuarial assumptions for all non-U.S. plans are described below. The discount rates are used to measure the year end benefit obligations and the earnings effects for the subsequent year. The assumptions for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2017 are as follows:

	2017	2016
Discount rate	5.78%-10.6%	5.4%-12.5%
Rate of increase in compensation level	5%-7%	5%-8.5%

Estimated Future Benefit Payments:

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

Years Ending December 31,

2018	$	360
2019		221
2020		577
2021		142
2022		151
2023 to 2027		1,749
	$	3,200