I would recommend googling for "airline bankruptcy pensions" to see how this plays out in a lot of cases. If pension liabilities get large enough, companies wi

I would recommend googling for "airline bankruptcy pensions" to see how this plays out in a lot of cases. If pension liabilities get large enough, companies will tend to "go bankrupt" (not really!) or restructure in such a way as to shed the liability. An interesting midpoint, I think is super in australia or kiwisaver in nz - mandated retiredment savings which can be invested in a choice of compliant funds (or self managed if you really want). Variable % contribution but a legal minimum. From a regulatory POV you can set these up with mandatory "employer" contributions and/or add government sweeteners. Of course, it's all part of your compensation, just like a pension promise but more direct and payable immediately. I think these schemes also work more cleanly with modern reality: few people work for the same company for 30 years anymore.