A more thorough explanation:

A defined benefit plan is a type of retirement plan offered by employers to their employees. In this plan, the amount of money an employee will receive after retirement is predetermined and fixed. This means that the employee will receive a specific amount of money periodically, as agreed upon with the employer, regardless of the amount they contributed to the plan.

For example, let's say an employee works for a company for 30 years and is enrolled in a defined benefit plan. The employer agrees to pay the employee $2,000 per month after retirement. This amount is fixed and will not change, regardless of how much the employee contributed to the plan during their employment.

Defined benefit plans are different from other retirement plans, such as defined contribution plans, where the amount an employee receives after retirement is based on the amount they contributed to the plan and the performance of the investments made with those contributions.

Employers must follow guidelines set out by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when offering defined benefit plans. The government also provides backing for these plans in case the employer becomes insolvent.