Postretirement Benefits: Case Study

fasbEmployers’ Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits—an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, and 106 (Issued 12/03) Summary

This Statement revises employers’ disclosures about pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans. It does not change the measurement or recognition of those plans required by FASB Statements No. 87, Employers’ Accounting for Pensions, No. 88, Employers’ Accounting for Settlements and Curtailments of Defined Benefit Pension Plans and for Termination Benefits, and No. 106, Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions. This Statement retains the disclosure requirements contained in FASB Statement No. 132, Employers’ Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, which it replaces. It requires additional disclosures to those in the original Statement 132 about the assets, obligations, cash flows, and net periodic benefit cost of defined benefit pension plans and other defined benefit postretirement plans. The required information should be provided separately for pension plans and for other postretirement benefit plans.

Reasons for Issuing This Statement
Users of financial statements cited the significance of pensions for many entities and the need for more information about economic resources and obligations related to pension plans as reasons for requesting this additional information. In light of certain similarities between defined benefit pension arrangements and arrangements for other postretirement benefits, this Statement requires similar disclosures about postretirement benefits other than