Defined Pension Plan vs. Defined Contribution Plan

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Defined benefit and defined contribution are the two main types of employer retirement plans . Defined benefit plans were at one time the mainstay of company retirement plans but are not as popular as they used to be. Defined contribution plans are becoming more common, because they are less expensive for employers to administer. Each plan has its advantages for the employer and employee. A defined-benefit plan, also called a pension, is a plan that pays you a specific amount of money, either per month or in a lump sum, when you become eligible for retirement benefits . These plans usually have formulas to determine how much you receive in benefits based on criteria such as how long you have worked for the company and what your salary is. Generally, the employer pays the complete cost of a defined-benefit plan. Government employment often has a defined-benefit pension plan as one of its benefits. A defined contribution plan is a plan that does not pay a specific benefit when you retire, but allows you to save money in a tax-deferred account. A 401k is a common type of defined-contribution plan. At retirement, you withdraw this money over time for living expenses. Your employer usually contributes to a defined-contribution plan also, either in the form of a match of some portion of your contributions or a fixed amount. It is first helpful to consider the basic context and premise of both the defined benefit and the defined contribution retirement plan. Considering first the defined benefit plan, Clark and Pitts (1999) report that "Defined benefit plans promise a specific benefit at retirement..." (p. 18). Grande and Grande (2004) go on to expand this definition by noting that: Often referred to as the traditional pension plan, a defined benefit plan provide a guaranteed retirement benefit for each participant. This retirement benefit is generally designed

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