In many cases, defined benefit pension plans are not considered to be your personal asset because you do not have unrestricted access to the plans. In other words, they generally do not have a value that is accessible to you and in most cases the plan participant (you) are not considered to be the owner of the asset - the company owns the asset and you are simply the beneficiary of a promised benefit.
However, there is no tax associated with reporting assets on Form 8938 and the exact details of each plan can vary greatly. A nuance in an individual plan could mean that plan does meet the requirements to report, and the penalty for not reporting when it is required can be stiff.
Therefore, unless you are certain that your plan is exempt from individual reporting requirements it is generally recommended to err on the side of caution and report the asset.
The form is fairly simple and reporting the asset does not impact your tax.
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