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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
Pension plans
The Company has three frozen defined benefit pension plans covering certain employees or former employees of three U.S. subsidiaries. The Company also has pension plans covering certain employees of several foreign subsidiaries. The Company’s policy is to fund pension costs as required by law, which is consistent with the funding requirements of federal laws and regulations. Certain foreign subsidiaries maintain unfunded pension plans consistent with local practices and requirements.
The Company’s recorded liability for pensions is based on a number of assumptions, including discount rates, rates of return on investments, mortality rates, and other factors.  Certain of these assumptions are determined by the Company with the assistance of outside actuaries.  Assumptions are based on past experience and anticipated future trends.  These assumptions are reviewed on a regular basis and revised when appropriate. In 2020, the Company changed the assumptions related to the mortality projection scale to better reflect anticipated plan experience and adjusted the discount rate to reflect market conditions as of the measurement date.
The following table provides the change in benefit obligation, change in plan assets, funded status, and amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheet of the defined benefit pension plans as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (amounts in thousands):
Change in benefit obligation:20202019
Benefit obligation at beginning of year$113,559 $108,513 
Plan amendments— (1,087)
Service cost801 765 
Interest cost3,496 4,385 
Actuarial assumption changes5,589 — 
Actuarial loss1,237 9,114 
Benefits paid(8,634)(8,516)
Foreign currency translation(1,108)385 
Benefit obligation at end of year$114,940 $113,559 
Change in plan assets:  
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year$81,375 $72,496 
Actual return on plan assets12,749 15,446 
Employer contributions3,433 1,943 
Benefits paid(7,740)(8,516)
Foreign currency translation(73)6 
Fair value of plan assets at end of year$89,744 $81,375 
Unfunded status at end of year$(25,196)$(32,184)
Amounts recognized in Consolidated Balance Sheet:  
Noncurrent assets$1,740 $1,016 
Current liabilities(1,529)(2,120)
Noncurrent liabilities(25,407)(31,080)
Net amount recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheet$(25,196)$(32,184)

The change in the benefit obligation was mainly driven by the benefits paid from the plans and negative impact of foreign currency translation due to unfavorable exchange rates offset by actuarial losses and interest costs positively impacting the benefit obligation. The change in the benefit obligation was favorably impacted by the actuarial assumption changes primarily related to discount rate and mortality projection scale table to better reflect the market conditions and anticipated plan experience.

The pension benefit obligation included $96.8 million of pension benefit obligation for the three frozen plans in the U.S. and $18.1 million of pension benefit obligation for plans at foreign subsidiaries. The fair value of plan assets included $88.4 million of plan assets for the three frozen plans in the U.S. and $1.3 million of plan assets for foreign plans.

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss: 
 20202019
Unrecognized prior service cost$779 $1,087 
Unrecognized net loss(33,877)(38,183)
Deferred tax effect of unrecognized items11,181 10,952 
Net amount recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss$(21,917)$(26,144)
The weighted-average assumptions used in the actuarial computation that derived the benefit obligations at December 31 were as follows:20202019
Discount rate2.5 %3.2 %
Expected long-term return on plan assets7.0 %6.9 %
 
The following table provides the components of net periodic pension cost for the plans, settlement cost, and the assumptions used in the measurement of the Company’s benefit obligation for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 (amounts in thousands):
Components of net periodic benefit cost and other
amounts recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)		   
Net periodic benefit cost:202020192018
Service cost$801 $765 $626 
Interest cost3,496 4,385 4,330 
Assumed return on assets(5,463)(4,737)(5,959)
Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost(69)49 137 
Amortization of net unrecognized loss2,840 3,238 2,784 
Net periodic pension cost$1,605 $3,700 $1,918 

Service cost is recorded as cost of sales in the Consolidated Statement of Operations while all other components are recorded in other income.

The weighted-average assumptions used in the actuarial computation that derived net periodic pension cost for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 were as follows:
 202020192018
Discount rate3.6 %5.0 %5.3 %
Expected long-term return on plan assets6.9 %6.9 %7.4 %

The allocation of the fair value of plan assets was as follows:
 Percentage of Plan Assets
at December 31,		Target
Allocation
Asset Category202020192020
U.S. equities (a)61 %62 %40% - 80%
Fixed income20 %22 %20% - 50%
Cash and cash equivalents10 %7 %0% - 20%
International equities (a)7 %7 %0% - 16%
REITs2 %2 %
 100 %100 % 
(a)Total equities may not exceed 80% of total plan assets.

The majority of the Company's foreign plans do not have plan assets. The foreign plans which have plan assets holds these plan assets in an insurance or money market fund.
The fair value of the plan assets by asset categories consisted of the following as of the dates set forth below (amounts in thousands):
 Fair Value Measurements as of December 31, 2020
 TotalLevel 1Level 2Level 3
Money market funds$8,916 $8,916 $— $— 
Common stock35,951 35,951 — — 
Bonds and securities3,638 3,638 — — 
Mutual and insurance funds41,239 40,410 829 — 
Totals$89,744 $88,915 $829 $— 
Assets measured at net asset value (a)— 
$89,744 
 Fair Value Measurements as of December 31, 2019
 TotalLevel 1Level 2Level 3
Money market funds$5,453 $5,453 $— $— 
Common stock33,675 33,675 — — 
Bonds and securities4,592 4,592 — — 
Mutual and insurance funds37,655 36,656 999 — 
Totals$81,375 $80,376 $999 $— 
Assets measured at net asset value (a)— 
$81,375 
(a)Assets measured at net asset value consist of common / collective trusts.
    
The Company invests in a diversified portfolio consisting of an array of asset classes in an attempt to maximize returns while minimizing risk.  These asset classes include U.S. equities, fixed income, cash and cash equivalents, international equities and REITs.  The investment objectives are to provide for the growth and preservation of plan assets on a long-term basis through investments in: investment grade securities that provide investment returns that meet or exceed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and investment grade fixed income securities that provide investment returns that meet or exceed the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index.  The U.S. equities asset category included the Company’s common stock in the amount of $0.8 million (approximately one of total plan assets) at December 31, 2020, and $0.6 million (approximately one of total plan assets) at December 31, 2019.

The fair value of money market funds, stock, bonds, U.S. government securities and mutual funds is determined based on valuation for identical instruments in active markets.

The long-term rate of return for plan assets is determined using a weighted-average of long-term historical approximate returns on cash and cash equivalents, fixed income securities, and equity securities considering the anticipated investment allocation within the plans.  The expected return on plan assets is anticipated to be 7.0% over the long-term.  This rate assumes long-term historical returns of approximately 8.5% for equities and approximately 4.0% for fixed income securities using the plans’ target allocation percentages.  Professional investment firms, none of which are Titan employees, manage the plan assets.

Although the 2021 minimum pension funding calculations are not finalized, the Company estimates those funding requirements will be approximately $3.2 million.
Projected benefit payments from the plans as of December 31, 2020, are estimated as follows (amounts in thousands):
2021$9,180 
20228,088 
20238,032 
20247,889 
20257,669 
2026-203035,111 

401(k)/Defined contribution plans
The Company sponsors two 401(k) retirement savings plans in the U.S. and a number of defined contribution plans at foreign subsidiaries.  One U.S. plan is for the benefit of substantially all employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining arrangement.  Titan provides a 50% matching contribution in the form of the Company’s common stock on the first 6% of the employee’s contribution in this plan.  The Company issued 653,211 shares, 266,121 shares and 54,517 shares of treasury stock in connection with this 401(k) plan during 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively.  Expenses to the Company related to this common stock matching contribution were $1.2 million, $1.2 million, and $0.6 million for 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively. The other U.S. 401(k) plan is for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements and does not include a Company matching contribution. Expenses related to foreign defined contribution plans were $3.7 million, $3.9 million, and $4.1 million for 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively.