18. Employee Benefit Plans Postretirement Plan TCF provides health care benefits for eli- gible retired employees (the “Postretirement Plan”). Effective January 1, 2000, TCF modified the Postretirement Plan by elim- inating the Company subsidy for employees not yet eligible for ben- efits under the Postretirement Plan. The plan provisions for full-time and retired employees then eligible for these benefits were not changed. The Postretirement Plan is an unfunded plan. Pension Plan The TCF Cash Balance Pension Plan (the “Pension Plan”) is a qualified defined benefit plan covering all “regular stated salary” employees and certain part-time employees who are at least 21 years old and have completed a year of eligibility service with TCF. TCF makes a monthly allocation to the participant’s account based on a percentage of the participant’s compensation. The per- centage is based on the sum of the participant’s age and years of employment with TCF. Participants are fully vested after five years of qualifying service. The following table sets forth the status of the Pension Plan and the Postretirement Plan at the dates indicated:  Pension Plan Postretirement Plan Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31, (In thousands) 2002 2001 2002 2001 Benefit obligation: Accrued participant balances – vested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 33,695 $ 28,068 N.A. N.A. Accrued participant balances – unvested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,123 3,461 N.A. N.A. Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,818 31,529 N.A. N.A. Present value of future service and benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,506 4,524 N.A. N.A. Total benefit obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 42,324 $ 36,053 N.A. N.A. Change in benefit obligation: Benefit obligation at beginning of year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 36,053 $ 32,544 $ 9,578 $ 7,609  Service cost – benefits earned during the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,547 2,969  48 49  Interest cost on benefit obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,857 2,480  685 547  Actuarial (gain) loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,736 323  3,012 2,182  Benefits paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1,869) (2,263) (1,486) (809) Benefit obligation at end of year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,324 36,053  11,837 9,578  Change in fair value of plan assets: Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,604 87,064  – – Actual return on plan assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8,249) (25,197) – – Benefits paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1,869) (2,263) (1,486) (809) Employer contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – 1,486 809  Fair value of plan assets at end of year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,486 59,604  – – Funded status of plans: Funded status at end of year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,162 23,551  (11,837) (9,578) Unrecognized transition obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – 2,093 2,304  Unrecognized prior service cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (813) (1,869) – – Unrecognized net loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,733  1,678  4,362 1,388  Prepaid (accrued) benefit expense at end of year . . . . . . . . . . . $ 26,082  $ 23,360  $ (5,382) $(5,886) N.A. Not applicable.  page 66