Cash Balance Benefits for Terminated Employees (Posted March 15, 2006) Technical Tip 63: The following question and answer are from the DOL/EBSA website: How am I affected if I leave my job at a company that just changed its pension plan from a traditional defined benefit formula to a cash balance plan formula? DOL Response: If you have worked long enough to be vested under the plan, you should receive the sum of: The accrued benefit under the formula in effect before the amendment Any additional benefits you earned under the plan formula in effect after the amendment. However, you may have to wait until a retirement age under the plan to receive your benefit. For more about vesting and distribution of benefits, see What You Should Know About Your Pension Rights. Comment by the RLR&C ERISA attorneys: Because of the controversy surrounding conversion to cash balances plans, we are providing a series of DOL questions and answers from their website concerning cash balance plans. These tips form a predicate for understanding the complex issues facing the DOL with respect to cash balance plans, including age discrimination and cut back in accrued benefits. View all Tips © 2012 Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen, a Professional Corporation Important notice: Answers are provided as general guidance on the subjects covered in the question and are not provided as legal advice to the questioner's situation. Any legal issues should be reviewed by your legal counsel to apply the law to the particular facts of your situation.