what are other post retirement benefits 
other post retirement benefits are benefits other than pension distributions paid to employees during their retirement years post retirement benefits may include life insurance and medical plans or premiums for such benefits as well as deferred compensation arrangements although these benefits are mostly employer paid retired employees often share in the cost of these benefits through co payments payment of deductibles and making employee contributions to the plan when required other post retirement benefits may also be referred to as other post employment benefits opeb understanding other post retirement benefitsthe benefits that fall within this category are all of the non cash payment benefits available to employees including dental vision care legal services and tuition credits these additional benefits along with traditional pension benefits can be a large expenditure for companies offering these plans especially if the plans are fully funded by the company the costs of these plans can be found in a company s financial statements usually in the notes which will also disclose the size of the obligation along with how well funded the fund is post retirement benefits may be provided by local and federal government agencies private and public companies and nonprofit institutions such as charities religious groups colleges and universities such benefits may be paid for in full or in part by the employer the retiree or a combination of the two other post retirement benefits and costdirect contributions that pay for any post employment benefits can expose an employer to certain risks and liabilities for example take the example of a former worker who is granted health insurance coverage at the cost premium rates as current employees typically a retired worker will be older than the average current employee and will therefore be more likely to incur higher medical expenses with this in mind insurers may charge higher group rates to employers who intend to keep retired employees on the plan however with medicare kicking in at 65 they would likely only be covering younger retired employees for a relatively short timespan as with other forms of retirement compensation other post retirement benefits can come with stringent reporting requirements due to their costs to an organization as well as for the overall return on investment compared to the value of the work employees have performed before retirement other post retirement benefits and compliancethe rules governing how companies report pension costs and obligations as well as the disclosure of pension assets and obligations are covered under accounting standards codification section 715 asc 715 formerly called the statement of financial accounting standards nos 87 88 158 the american society of pension professionals actuaries asppa provides a guide on how to manage the asc 715 process which describes the disclosure information for a client s financial reports as well as lists the methodology used to complete the required actuarial calculations 