29 U.S.C. § 1051: Coverage

an employee welfare benefit plan; a plan which is unfunded and is maintained by an employer primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or highly compensated employees; a plan established and maintained by a society, order, or association described in section 501(c)(8) or (9) of title 26, if no part of the contributions to or under such plan are made by employers of participants in such plan, or a trust described in section 501(c)(18) of title 26 ; a plan which is established and maintained by a labor organization described in section 501(c)(5) of title 26 and which does not at any time after September 2, 1974 , provide for employer contributions; any agreement providing payments to a retired partner or a deceased partner’s successor in interest, as described in section 736 of title 26 ; an individual retirement account or annuity described in section 408 of title 26 , or a retirement bond described in section 409 of title 26 (as effective for obligations issued before January 1, 1984 ); an excess benefit plan; or any plan, fund or program under which an employer, all of whose stock is directly or indirectly owned by employees, former employees or their beneficiaries, proposes through an unfunded arrangement to compensate retired employees for benefits which were forfeited by such employees under a pension plan maintained by a former employer prior to the date such pension plan became subject to this chapter.