Guide · Retirement plan types

401(k) vs. Defined Benefit Pension

Compare 401(k) plans and traditional defined benefit pensions. How they work, who bears investment risk, and which employers offer each type.

401(k) filings with reported assets outnumber defined-benefit pensions 13 to 1 in this Form 5500 extract.

According to DOL Form 5500 2024 filings with a reported end-of-year asset total, there are 90,350 401(k) plans ($7.9T combined assets) versus 6,676 defined-benefit pensions (10,255,412 reported participants). These are plan-level filing counts, not advice about which plan type to choose.

Plan type comparison · 2024 filings

401(k) filings with reported assets outnumber defined-benefit pensions 13 to 1 in this Form 5500 extract.

90,350
401(k) filings with reported assets
6,676
defined-benefit pension filings
$7.9T
combined 401(k) plan assets
13:1
401(k) to DB plan ratio

The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries asset #1 is not Walmart Inc. participant #1

According to DOL Form 5500 2024 filings tagged in this 401(k) pool, The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries ranks #1 of 87,994 by reported end-of-year assets ($73.9B, 139,394 participants, participant rank #32). Walmart Inc. ranks #1 of 87,994 by participants (1,635,899 covering $50.8B, asset rank #9). The largest reported balance is not the largest headcount.

  • The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries $73.9B assets · participants rank #32
  • Walmart Inc. 1,635,899 participants · assets rank #9

Form 5500 filing pool

The largest 401(k) asset balance is not the largest participant count

87,994
401(k) filings in pool
$73.9B
Asset #1 (The Boeing Co. and Consolidated Subsidiaries)
1,635,899
Participant #1 (Walmart Inc.)
The Boeing Co. and Consolidated SubsidiariesThe Boeing Co. and Consolida…139,394Walmart Inc.1,635,899
Reported participants for the 401(k) asset #1 and participant #1 filings. DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Vintage 2026-08-25.

The filing-count contrast

Plans with a reported end-of-year asset total · 2024 filing year

Plan-level comparison
401(k) to defined-benefit filing ratio
13:1

By the Numbers (2024 DOL Form 5500 Data)

  • 90,350 401(k) filings with a reported end-of-year asset total ($7.9T combined)
  • 6,676 defined-benefit pension filings with a reported end-of-year asset total covering 10,255,412 participants
  • 401(k) filings outnumber those pensions 13:1 in this extract

How Each Plan Works

401(k) Plans (Defined Contribution)

A 401(k) is a defined-contribution plan. The public filing can describe the plan's reported assets and participant count, while the plan document and Summary Plan Description set the terms that apply to participants.

  • Reported assets and participants are plan-level fields, not individual account balances.
  • Contribution, matching, investment, vesting, and distribution terms are plan-specific.
  • Use the plan's own documents to establish the terms that apply to a participant.

Defined Benefit Pensions

A defined-benefit plan records a different plan structure in the filing data. Its benefit formula, funding, eligibility, and distribution terms must be read from the governing plan documents rather than inferred from a ranking.

  • Reported filing counts do not measure a plan's benefit quality or an individual's expected payment.
  • Plan assets, participant counts, and filing-year coverage are comparable only within the stated Form 5500 extract.
  • The plan administrator and plan documents are the authoritative sources for participant-specific questions.

What the Filing Counts Can Show

This page compares private employer-sponsored filings in one DOL Form 5500 extract. It can show the relative number of filings with reported assets and link readers to the underlying plan records on PlainRetire.

  • The extract contains 90,350 401(k) filings with reported assets and 6,676 defined-benefit filings with reported assets.
  • $7.9T is the combined reported end-of-year asset total for the 401(k) filing pool in this extract.
  • 10,255,412 is the reported participant total for the defined-benefit filing pool in this extract.

It cannot determine which arrangement is suitable for a person, whether a benefit is vested, or what a participant will receive. Those questions depend on plan-specific documents and facts outside this dataset.

Use the filing record correctly

Keep a filing-count comparison separate from a participant-specific benefit decision.

  • 90,350 401(k) filings with reported assets are in this Form 5500 extract. Use the ranking to inspect the public filing record, not to infer an individual's benefit. Browse 401(k) filings
  • 6,676 defined-benefit filings with reported assets are in the same extract. Their reported asset totals and participant counts are plan-level fields. Browse defined-benefit filings
  • The plan document and Summary Plan Description, rather than this filing-count comparison, establish a participant’s eligibility, benefit, and distribution terms. Read the data scope

PlainRetire reports public Form 5500 fields for the stated filing year. It does not establish individual benefits, coverage, tax treatment, or a recommendation.

The filing counts and reported asset or participant figures on this page are derived from PlainRetire's DOL Form 5500 database. Plan terms are not inferred from those figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-25.