Table of Contents CITIZENS, INC. AND CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Continued In January 2018, the Company's Board of Directors approved awards of restricted stock units under the Citizens, Inc. Omnibus Incentive Plan for non-employee directors and the executive management team, with grant date fair values totaling $10,500 per director and $976,000 in total to the executive management team. The grant date was February 15, 2018, with a one-year vesting schedule for the directors and a two-year vesting schedule for the executive management team. Vesting of the units is subject to the recipient’s continued service or employment with the Company through the applicable vesting date. In addition, the Board also approved equity grants for 2018 not to exceed $1.2 million for other employees with a delegation to the President and Chief Executive Officer to determine the participant and values to be awarded. Note 11: Stock Compensation Note 12: Benefit Plans $^{(1)}$ Fair value per share of restricted stock units on December 31, 2018 was equal to Grant Date fair value per share, which was calculated based on the closing price of the Company's Class A common stock on the NYSE on the grant date, in accordance with ASC Topic 718. Restricted stock unit awards give the participant the right to receive common stock in the future, subject to certain restrictions and a risk of forfeiture. Compensation expense of $410,000 was recognized as of December 31, 2018 related to these awards. The Company sponsors a defined contribution profit-sharing plan. Employees with one year of service can participate. Contributions are made at the discretion of the Board of Directors and are subject to a tiered vesting schedule. There were no employer contributions to the plan in 2018, 2017 and 2016. The plan does not permit employee contributions. The Company introduced an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan to all eligible employees, effective March 1, 2016. This is an additional benefit offered to employees, which supplements the defined contribution profit-sharing plan which was already in existence. Employees with one year of service can participate in the new plan. The 401(k) was amended on January 1, 2019 to provide that, effective January 1, 2019, employees who have completed three months of service are qualified to participate in the plan. Contributions are made by employees and the Company provides a matching contribution based upon the employee's level of contribution. The Company's expense related to the 401(k) plan was $0.7 million, $0.7 million and $0.5 million in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. On the effective date, the Company's defined contribution profit-sharing plan was merged into the 401(k) plan and it became the Citizens, Inc. 401(k) Retirement and Profit Sharing Plan. Although merged, the profit sharing plan remains a separate and distinct employee benefit for eligible employees. The Company is primarily self-insured for employee health benefits. The Company records its self-insurance liability based on an estimate of claims incurred but not yet reported. There is stop-loss coverage for amounts in excess of $120,000 per individual per year. If more claims are made than were estimated or if the costs of actual claims increase beyond what was anticipated, reserves recorded may not be sufficient and additional accruals may be required in future periods. 113 Restricted Stock Units Units Aggregate Fair Value  (1) Outstanding at January 1, 2018 — $ — Granted 148,883 1,070,500 Less: Vested — — Forfeited (30,111 ) (216,498 ) Outstanding at December 31, 2018 118,772 $ 854,002