Among the challenges for those earning hourly wages has been the almost universal decline of traditional pensions. The number of pension plans dropped by more than 70 percent to about 42,300 between 1984 and 2012, while 401(k) plans multiplied to more than 500,000 from 17,000 in that period. Employee funded 401(k)s haven’t effectively replaced those pensions. The median combined 401(k) and individual retirement account balance for households headed by people between 55 and 64 was $111,000 in 2013. Those savings will provide a little more than $4,000 a year, assuming the recommended 4 percent withdrawal rate.

It’s a different reality for CEOs and their top lieutenants, especially those with so-called executive pensions.

Deferred Compensation Plans

Sometimes called supplemental executive retirement plans, or SERPs, they’re usually calculated by multiplying years of service and the average pay earned over the executives’ last three to five years of service, when earnings are at their peak.

About 30 percent of Fortune 1000 companies offered SERPs in 2013, according to consulting firm The Newport Group. Unlike pensions, SERPs are generally unfunded liabilities on companies’ balance sheets. They’re paid in cash when executives retire or leave.

More common than SERPs are deferred compensation plans, which more than three-quarters of Fortune 1000 companies offer, according to The Newport Group. They allow executives to set aside salary and bonus income on a pretax basis and circumvent caps lower-paid employees face on contributions to 401(k) accounts. About half of these companies contributed to their executives’ balances and three-quarters of the plans had different options, usually more robust than those offered to 401(k) participants, The Newport Group said.

McKesson CEO

Like Target’s Steinhafel, John Hammergren, the CEO of McKesson Corp., has been awarded a varied mix of retirement benefits. Hammergren’s deferred compensation was valued at $30 million in 2013, according to proxy filings. Additionally, his executive pension was valued at $159 million, making it the most lucrative for a CEO at a company in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to compensation consultants.

The 55-year-old CEO of the San Francisco-based medical-products company agreed last year to reduce his pension by $45 million and cap its value at $114 million, following complaints from activist investors.

“It’s important to note his pension is no longer subject to fluctuations based on continued service, changes in pay rates or changes in interest rate assumptions,” Kristin Hunter, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an e-mail.

McKesson’s traditional pension for all employees was frozen in 1996 and the executive pension was ended for new participants in 2007, Hunter said. The company has had a 401(k) plan since 1983.