A tool designed to project the growth of a hybrid retirement plan combines features of defined benefit and defined contribution plans. This type of plan credits a participant’s account with a hypothetical contribution, often a percentage of their salary, plus interest credited at a fixed or variable rate. A hypothetical example would be a plan participant earning $100,000 annually receiving a contribution credit of 5% of their salary, or $5,000, plus an interest credit of 4%, resulting in a year-end balance of $5,200.
These tools provide valuable insights for financial planning, allowing individuals to estimate their retirement income based on various contribution and interest rate scenarios. This empowers informed decisions about savings strategies and potential retirement dates. Historically, the ability to easily project retirement income was largely limited to traditional defined benefit pensions. The advent of these planning resources has broadened access to this crucial aspect of retirement preparedness for those participating in this newer type of plan.