What is an "Accrued Monthly Pension Benefit"?

The accrued monthly pension benefit is the amount that would be paid to the employee as a monthly pension benefit based upon the years of service earned by the employee as of the cut-off date payable when the employee reaches retirement. In other words, assuming the employee terminated his/her employment as of the cut-off date, the accrued monthly benefit is the amount that would be paid as a pension when the employee retires. Most plans have the ability to calculate this amount as of any cut-off date requested. Further, in many cases, employees are given annual benefit statements that illustrate their accrued monthly pension benefit as of December 31 of the given year.