8. Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans
The Company has qualified defined contribution retirement plans covering substantially all employees. There are no prior service costs associated with these plans. The Company follows the policy of funding qualified retirement plan contributions as accrued. The Company also maintains non-qualified plans to accrue retirement benefits subject to Internal Revenue Code limitations. The costs associated with these retirement plans are summarized as follows:

(Amounts in thousands)	Qualified Plans			Non-Qualified Plans			Total
2000	$	24,086		$	4,103		$	28,189
1999		22,944			3,828			26,772
1998		20,400			3,045			23,445

   In addition to non-qualified retirement plans, the Company has a deferred compensation plan that allows for the voluntary deferral of a portion of managers’ compensation. Participant balances in the various non-qualified plans are credited with interest at a rate set at the discretion of the Company which, for the three years ended April 2000, was the prime rate as published by a major U.S. bank. To enhance security for the benefits payable under these plans, the Company has established a “Rabbi Trust,” funded with Company-owned life insurance (COLI) policies on the lives of participants. The assets of the trust are not generally available to the Company or its creditors except in the event of the Company’s insolvency. A COLI premium payment of $15.8 million was made to the trust in 1998. In March 1999, the Company effected an exchange under section 1035 of the Internal Revenue Code, in which most of the policies from the original insurance carrier were exchanged for policies with a new carrier. No premium payments were made in 1999 or 2000. The total liability for benefits accrued under the non-qualified plans at the end of 2000 and 1999 totaled $67.8 million and $60.8 million, respectively. The cash values of the related trust assets reflected in the accompanying balance sheets were $65.6 million and $64.9 million, respectively, at those same dates.