John Deere Pension Plan for Salaried Employees

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In 1837, John Deere founded the company that would come to bear his name. Incorporated as Deere & Company in 1868, it has grown from a one-man blacksmith shop into a corporation that today does business around the world and employs approximately 47,000 people. It is one of the oldest industrial companies in the United States.

Retirees from John Deere, receive a monthly pension payment based on the years of service and theirr career average earnings, including short-term incentive bonuses. Normal retirement is at age 65, with at least five years of service credit. Or, they can retire as young as age 55, with at least 10 years of service credit.

For the John Deere Pension Plan, we included the following factors:

A	% Change - Is your plan growing or shrinking?	B	% Active - How many members in your pension plan are active contributors?
C	Assets divided by Liability - Perhaps the single best indicator of your plan's health.	D	Has your plan been given a funding waiver? Could be a Warning Sign.
E	How much of the value of your plan is coming in via contributions?	F	Expenses to Income ratio helps show how efficiently your plan is being managed.
G	The presence of related party transactions has been a warning sign in the past.	H	Potential red flag - minimum funding waiver used in the past
I	Potential red flag - Was the minimum fund contribution made?	J	Potential red flag - Has there been a change in the actuarial cost method?

Data comes from the most recent John Deere Pension Plan Form 5500 (Year: 2004) found at www.freeERISA.com. If you have questions or concerns, the best person to ask is your Plan Administrator or your financial advisor.

# of Participants		A	B
Beg.of Yr.	End of Yr.	% Change	% Actives
27,546	27,929	1.39%	48.6%

Actuarial Value of Assets	Current Liability	C	D
		Assets/ Liability	Funding Waiver?
			Yes	No
$ 3.5 B	$ 3.2 B	109%		X

Total Contribution	E	Total Income	Total Expenses	F
Total Contribution	Contribution to Value %	Total Income	Total Expenses	Expense to Income Ratio
$ 155 M	4.3%	$ 654 M	$ 215 M	32.8%

G		H
Related Party Trx?		Min. Funding Waiver?
Yes	No	Yes	No
	X		X

I		J
> Min.Contribution?		Change in Cost Method?
Yes	No	Yes	No
X			X

Please let us know if you have any questions, if you find this guide useful, or if you have any suggestions to help improve it.

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