NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - This year, MONEY Magazine's annual Best Benefits survey took a hard look at how tough times threaten the financial well-being of working Americans.

Our investigation focused on the benefits that most directly affect the wealth and wallet of the employee. The survey was mailed to senior compensation and benefits executives at Fortune 300 companies. More than a third responded, which let us scrutinize the benefits enjoyed by more than 4.6 million Americans.

To analyze the data, we partnered with Milliman USA, an international benefits consulting firm. Drawing on their extensive industry knowledge, they created a complex suite of financial tools to distill the rankings. First, a team of benefits experts and actuaries from Milliman's Washington, D.C. office developed a proprietary algorithm that compared the benefits offered by the respondents.

Utilizing a model we believe is relevant to MONEY readers, we looked at a specific employee profile: a married 50-year-old with two dependent kids and 10 years of service, who is earning $100,000 a year. And unlike our survey last year, where we ranked companies based on their dollar value at press time, this year's survey adds a twist: The calculations incorporate actuarial data that reflect likely real-life career outcomes for our hypothetical worker at each respondent firm.

"We took into account a wide array of career-path possibilities based on industry practices such as the likelihood of an early retirement and industry turnover statistics," explains Milliman's Jeff Lane.

This information helped the Milliman team craft an apples-to-apples benefits comparison, incorporating real variables facing employees today. "As a result, the ranking serves two functions," adds Milliman's John Muehl. "It's a comprehensive listing of benefits offered by America's top corporations and a real dollar assessment of what these benefits are worth to an actual employee."

To accomplish this, the Milliman team created a 100-point scoring system that compared the dollar values of the financial benefits listed earlier, as well as paid time off.

Now to the nuts and bolts. Because we view retirement planning as the foundation for any meaningful benefits plan, the highest possible score in that category was 42 points. (That number took into account both defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans.)

Who snared the big points? Employers who offered generous 401(k) matches, profit-sharing contributions or both. Scoring for companies providing pensions was determined by how much income the pension replaced after 20 years of service -- the higher the percentage, the higher the score.

And we gave points for relevant special features like the availability of lump-sum pension distributions, subsidized early-retirement options, a healthy array of investment options, 401(k) loans upon request, freedom to change allocations and the ability to manage accounts online.

Next, our number crunchers looked at health-care benefits. In a nod to spiraling health-care costs, companies that paid full benefits -- dental and vision included -- could earn 21 points. Those that picked up less of the tab scored less. Retiree medical benefits were also a significant consideration: If our Everyperson could expect subsidized coverage in retirement, we added up to 15 points.

We also assigned up to 17 points for generous paid time off. And although cash may be king these days, stock options still matter; nevertheless, because the cost is negligible to an employer, we assigned only one point to them. Similarly, long-term disability benefits earned one point.

The tale of the tape? Philip Morris is No. 1 in our survey for the fourth year in a row. The company's combination of a traditional pension with a profit-sharing contribution of 15 percent of pay (on average) is a big reason why. Pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough earned second place, thanks to a similar profit-sharing contribution.

Health insurance also played a role in the high scorers: Abbott Laboratories hit No. 3 in part by paying 90 percent of the eligible retirement health-care premiums for employees age 50 or more with at least 10 years of service. And the folks at American Express (No. 20 overall) are the most tanned, rested and ready, enjoying highest marks in the paid-time-off category.