Matching contribution to defined contribution plan

  
NOTE 13 – Employee Retirement BenefitsWe sponsor a qualified defined benefit pension plan that we closed entry into for new associates as of June 30, 2008, and only participants 40 years of age or older as of August 31, 2008, could elect to continue to participate. During 2008, we changed the form of retirement benefit we offer some associates to a company match on contributions to a 401(k) plan as further explained below. For participants remaining in the pension plan, we continue to fund future benefit obligations. Benefits for the defined benefit pension plan are based on years of credited service and compensation level. Contributions are based on the prescribed method defined in the Pension Protection Act. Our net periodic benefit cost is based on certain actuarial assumptions and also is composed of several components that are determined using the projected unit credit actuarial cost method. The qualified plan has been amended to allow for distribution of vested balances to terminated participants.  We sponsor a defined contribution plan (401(k) plan) for eligible associates with matching company contributions totaling $22 million, $22 million and $19 million during the years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Associates who are not accruing benefits under the pension plan are eligible to receive the company match of up to 6% of cash compensation. Participants vest in the company match for the 401(k) plan after three years of eligible service. We maintain a supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) with a benefit obligation of $9 million at year-end 2021 and $10 million at year-end 2020, which is included in the projected benefit obligation. The company also makes available to a select group of associates the CFC Top Hat Savings Plan, a nonqualified deferred compensation plan, which had a fair value of $64 million and $51 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Company matching contributions to the CFC Top Hat Savings Plan totaled approximately $1 million for the years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  Defined Benefit Pension Plan AssumptionsWe evaluate our pension plan assumptions annually and update them as necessary. This is a summary of the weighted-average assumptions used to determine our benefit obligations at December 31 for the plans:

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|   |  | Qualified Pension Plan |  | SERP |
|   |  | 2021 |  | 2020 |  | 2021 |  | 2020 |
| Discount rate |  | 2.97  | % |  | 2.68  | % |  | 2.90  | % |  | 2.52  | % |
| Rate of compensation increase |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |
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 To determine the discount rate for each plan, a theoretical settlement portfolio of high-quality rated corporate bonds was chosen to provide payments approximately matching the plan’s projected benefit payments. A single interest rate for each plan was determined resulting in a discounted value of the plan's benefit payments that equates to the market value of the selected bonds. The discount rate is reflective of current market interest rate conditions and our plan's liability characteristics. Based on this analysis, we increased the rate from the prior year by 0.29 percentage points for the qualified pension plan and by 0.38 percentage points for the SERP. Compensation increase assumptions reflect anticipated rates of inflation, real return on wage growth and merit and promotional increases. The mortality assumption is updated annually to reflect the updated mortality scales. The Pri-2012 tables with Scale MP-2021, Scale MP-2020, and Scale MP-2019 were used for the years 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. The updated mortality table did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements as our qualified plan assumes the majority of benefits will be paid in the form of lump sums.  
This is a summary of the weighted-average assumptions used to determine our net periodic benefit cost for the plans:

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|   |  | Qualified Pension Plan |  | SERP |
|   |  | 2021 |  | 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2021 |  | 2020 |  | 2019 |
| Discount rate |  | 2.68  | % |  | 3.40  | % |  | 4.34  | % |  | 2.52  | % |  | 3.33  | % |  | 4.25  | % |
| Expected return on plan assets |  | 7.00  |  |  | 7.00  |  |  | 7.00  |  |  | n/a |  | n/a |  | n/a |
| Rate of compensation increase |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |  | 2.25-3.25 |
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 The discount rate was decreased by 0.72 percentage points for the qualified pension plan and 0.81 percentage points for the SERP due to market interest rate conditions at the beginning of 2021. The discount rate assumptions for our benefit obligation generally track with high-quality rated corporate bond yields chosen in our theoretical Cincinnati Financial Corporation - 2021 10-K - Page 162
