floor plan

Hybrid employee benefit plan combining certain aspects of both defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans. Its objective is to ensure that retiring employees receive a certain minimum ('the floor') of the benefits irrespective of the losses that may occur in the defined-contribution plans, and that they benefit from investment gains accrued under the defined benefit plans. In this arrangement, the employer maintains two plans: a defined-contribution plan (any plan other than a section 401(k) cash or deferred plan) that serves as the primary fund for the retirement benefits, and a defined-benefit plan that uses a benefit-formula to establish the floor benefits. If the defined-contribution benefits fall below the floor, the defined-benefit plan makes up the shortfall. This scheme also allows an employer to offer early retirement benefits not permissible under a defined-contribution plan. also called floor-offset plan.