"For context, as of approximately 2015, governments must report their pension obligations on one of their required financial statements, known as the "Statement of Net Position." In layman's terms, this means knowing how much you have in your checking account and being honest about the debt you carry. It's what you tell the bank when you ask for a loan so they can assess the risk in giving it to you. Again, only since 2015 (due partly to pressure by Truth in Accounting) has the government been required to follow the same rules as you. But are they......really? There's much more to the story. Please read our article in Accounting Today to dig deeper."