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Employee Retirement Plans
 12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Employee Retirement Plans Employee Retirement Plans
We have a defined contribution plan in which all U.S. full-time employees are eligible to participate. The participants may contribute from 1% to 70% of their compensation, as defined in the plan. We match 100% of the first 3%, plus 50% of the next 3%, of each participant's base compensation with full vesting immediately. We may also make additional contributions to the plan as determined by the Board of Directors. The total expense for the defined contribution plan was $1.6 million, $1.5 million and $1.5 million for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Certain employees of our Lynchburg manufacturing facility are covered by defined benefit pension plans. The Company’s policy is to contribute at least the minimum amount required under ERISA. The Company may elect to make additional contributions. Benefits are based on years of service and levels of compensation. On December 16, 2014, the decision was made to freeze the benefits under the Company's U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plan (the "Plan") with an effective date of March 1, 2015.

During the fourth quarter of 2021, we adopted a plan termination date of April 30, 2021 for the Plan and began the Plan termination process. Pension obligations related to the Plan of $52.1 million will be distributed through a combination of lump sum payments to eligible Plan participants who elect such payments and through the purchase of annuity contracts to the remaining participants. The benefit obligation for the Plan as of March 31, 2021 was therefore determined on a plan termination
basis for which it is assumed that a portion of eligible active and deferred vested participants will elect lump sum payments. The Plan likely has sufficient assets to satisfy all transaction obligations. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.
Benefit Obligations and Plan Assets
The following table summarizes the changes in the U.S. pension plan obligations and plan assets and includes a statement of the plans' funded status as of March 31, 2021 and 2020:
March 31,
 (In thousands)20212020
Change in benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of period$61,570 $60,334 
Interest cost1,972 2,327 
Actuarial (gain) loss3,779 2,375 
Benefits paid(10,503)(3,466)
Projected benefit obligations at end of year$56,818 $61,570 
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of period$52,760 $51,115 
Actual return on plan assets7,650 3,742 
Employer contribution3,368 1,369 
Benefits paid(10,503)(3,466)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year$53,275 $52,760 
Funded status at end of year$(3,543)$(8,810)

Amounts recognized in the balance sheet at the end of the period consist of the following:
March 31,
 (In thousands)20212020
Noncurrent asset$1,141 $— 
Current liability357 359 
Long-term liability4,327 8,451 
Total liabilities$4,684 $8,810 
Total net liability$(3,543)$(8,810)

The primary components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Income) consist of the following:
Year Ended March 31,
 (In thousands)202120202019
Interest cost$1,972 $2,327 $2,380 
Expected return on assets(2,336)(2,886)(3,070)
Net periodic benefit cost (income)$(364)$(559)$(690)

The following table provides information regarding our pension plans with an accumulated benefit obligation and a projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:
March 31,
 (In thousands)20212020
Accumulated benefit obligation56,818 61,570 
Fair value of plan assets53,275 52,760 
Projected benefit obligations56,818 61,570 
Fair value of plan assets53,275 52,760 

The pension benefit amounts stated above include one pension plan that is an unfunded plan. The projected benefit obligation and accumulated benefit obligation for this unfunded plan were $4.7 million as of March 31, 2021 and $4.6 million as of March 31, 2020.

The following table includes amounts that are expected to be contributed to the plans by the Company. It reflects benefit payments that are made from the plans' assets as well as those made directly from the Company's assets. The amounts in the table are actuarially determined and reflect the Company's best estimate given its current knowledge; actual amounts could be materially different.

 (In thousands)Pension Benefits
Employer contributions:
2022 (expectation) to participant benefits$357 
Expected benefit payments year ending March 31,
2022$3,816 
20233,538 
20243,524 
20253,455 
20263,431 
2027-203116,599 
We contributed $3.0 million, $1.0 million and $1.0 million to our qualified defined benefit plan during 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.

During the third quarter of 2021, we offered participants of our qualified defined benefit plan the option to receive a lump sum payout of their benefits. The amount paid out of plan assets during the third quarter of 2021 to those who elected to take the lump sum payout was $7.0 million, and we recognized a settlement gain of $0.2 million as a result of the payout. The settlement credit was determined based on a remeasurement of the plan as of December 31, 2020, at which point a discount rate of 2.51% and an expected return assumption of 2.75% were selected. Those remeasurement assumptions were also used to determine the net periodic pension income for the plan for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

The Company's primary investment objective for its qualified pension plan assets is to provide a source of retirement income for the plans' participants and beneficiaries. The asset allocation for the Company's funded retirement plan as of March 31, 2021 and 2020, and the target allocation by asset category are as follows:
Percentage of Plan Assets
Asset CategoryTarget AllocationMarch 31, 2021March 31, 2020
Domestic large cap equities— %— %16 %
Domestic small/mid cap equities— — 5 
International equities— — 15 
Real estate— 6 5 
Fixed income and cash100 94 59 
Total100 %100 %100 %
The plan assets are invested in a portfolio consisting primarily of domestic fixed income held within collective investment trust funds as of March 31, 2021 due to the plan termination process which began during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 and the plan's positive funded status. The plan assets were invested in a portfolio consisting primarily of domestic fixed income and publicly traded equity securities as of March 31, 2020. These assets are fair valued using NAV.

The following tables show the unrecognized actuarial loss (gain) included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) at March 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

 (In thousands)
Balances in accumulated other comprehensive loss as of March 31, 2019:
Unrecognized actuarial (gain)$(1,469)
Unrecognized prior service credit— 
Balances in accumulated other comprehensive (income) as of March 31, 2020:
Unrecognized actuarial loss$73 
Unrecognized prior service credit— 
Balances in accumulated other comprehensive loss as of March 31, 2021:
Unrecognized actuarial (gain)$(1,202)
Unrecognized prior service credit— 

Assumptions used in determining the actuarial present value of the net periodic benefit cost (income) for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
March 31,
2021 *20202019
Key assumptions:
Discount rate
3.37% to 3.55%
3.80% to 3.99%
3.93% to 4.07%
Expected return on plan assets, net of administrative fees5.00%5.75%6.25%
*The qualified plan was remeasured at December 31, 2020 for settlement accounting, at which point a discount rate of 2.51% and an expected return assumption of 2.75% were selected and used to determine the net periodic benefit cost (income) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

Assumptions used in determining the actuarial present value of the benefit obligation as of March 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows:
March 31,
20212020
Key assumptions:
Discount rate
2.58% to 2.95%
3.37% to 3.55%
The determination of the expected long-term rate of return was derived from an optimized portfolio using an asset allocation software program. The risk and return assumptions, along with the correlations between the asset classes, were entered into the program. Based on these assumptions and historical experience, the portfolio is expected to achieve a long-term rate of return of 2.25%. The investment managers engaged to manage the portfolio are expected to outperform their expected benchmarks on a relative basis over a full market cycle.