Search for a company with which you are familiar and which you believe is likely to have a pension plan. (Older, established firms are good candidates.) Access the company's most recent 10-K filing (annual report). Search or scroll to find the financial statements and related notes. Can't do Wal-Mart.

From the disclosure notes, determine the type of pension plan(s) the company has.

For any defined contribution plans, determine the contributions the company made to the plans on behalf of employees during the most recent three years.

For any defined benefit plans, what interest (discount) rate was used in estimating the PBO? Access the FASB Accounting Standards Codification at the FASB website (acs.fasb.org). Determine the specific citation for accounting for the requirement to disclose the discount rate used to estimate the PBO.

Repeat steps 2 through 4 for a second firm. Compare and contrast the types of pension plans offered. Are actuarial assumptions the same for defined benefit plans?