To see whether the company has an over- or underfunded pension plan, go to the footnotes of a 10-K filing and look for the note labeled “pension and other postretirement benefits,” “employee retirement benefits,” or some variation. Then look at the line labeled “projected benefit obligation.” This is the first key number. It’s the estimated amount the company will owe to employees after they retire, and it’s based on assumptions about how long retirees will live, the rate that salary levels at the company will grow over time, and the interest rate that the company uses to discount its future
...more
