One of the reasons pension accounting gets more attention in the U.S. than in many other countries is because of the sheer size of the U.S. workforce and the number of workers who are at or who are rapidly approaching retirement age, and the dwindling number of employer-paid pension plans. In 2013, the U.S. workforce numbered 158,959,242 workers, which is third behind Chinas 793,307,655 and Indias 481,235,954 (The World Bank, n.d.). Of these hundreds of millions of workers, 58% are in neither a pension plan, nor a 401(k) plan. So as millions of aging workers retire, there is the issue that the U.S. Social Security system, from which a third of U.S. retirees receive 90 percent of their retirement income, is looking at a substantial shortfall (Greenhouse). So, the shortfall would need to be made up through the decreasing number of pension plans, some sort of 401(k) or Roth 401(k) plan, or a retirement savings account like an IRA.

If we want to look at sustainability, how can we have a sustainable pension plans? What measures should be implemented?