
Cash Balance Plan
- Broadridge Content
A cash balance plan is a qualified employer-sponsored retirement plan that has become increasingly common in recent years as an alternative to (or replacement of) the traditional defined benefit pension plan. Though it is technically a form of defined benefit plan, the cash balance plan is often referred to as a "hybrid" of a traditional defined benefit pension plan and a defined contribution plan. This is because cash balance plans combine certain features of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Like traditional defined benefit plans, cash balance plans pay a specified benefit amount at retirement. However, like defined contribution plans, participants have individual (albeit hypothetical) accounts, allowing for easy tracking of accrued benefits.

