Portfolio integration module for providing financial planning and advice

• US 20040267651A1
• Filed: 05/03/2004
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Scarlato, Patricia, Vanney, Beth M., Jenson, Jodi
• Granted Patent: US 8,498,913 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/36.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for facilitating financial advising and planning for a user using a portfolio integration module. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the system includes a portfolio integration module for facilitating integration of a user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance to facilitate analyzing and developing a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of the user. A portfolio reconciler module in communication with the portfolio integration module facilitates comparison of the customized strategy to other strategies and projected user financial decisions in order to further facilitate the financial portfolio planning of the user. A stochastic modeling module in communication with the portfolio integration module and the portfolio reconciler module for facilitating use of data from the portfolio integration module and the portfolio reconciler module in a stochastic modeling analysis using a synchronous stationary bootstrap sampling method to facilitate creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user. A simulator module in communication with the portfolio integration module, the portfolio reconciler module, and the stochastic modeling module for facilitating forecasting the effects of the proposed situation portfolio on the user'"'"'s portfolio, and monitoring, simulating, designing, and testing the portfolio integration module, the portfolio reconciler module, and the stochastic modeling module.

Claims

1. A probability modeling system for facilitating financial advising and planning, comprising:

a portfolio integration module for facilitating integration of at least one of a user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance to facilitate analyzing and developing a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of the user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portfolio integration module is configured to analyze the timing of at least one of a user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein creation of the proposed situation portfolio considers various portfolio strategies including at least one of regular assets, regular contributions, retirement assets and contributions, VUL (Variable Universal Life) insurance cash values, premiums, and costs, taxable assets, taxable savings, and tax-deferred assets/savings.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the various portfolio strategies consider assets and savings for facilitating meeting short-term goals and assets and savings for facilitating meeting long-term goals.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein creation of the proposed situation portfolio considers the allocation of assets in order to balance the short-term risks in the market with long-term return potential.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the portfolio integration module is configured to determine the amount of at least one of taxable assets, tax-deferred assets, and cash value insurance policies to be invested in at least one of a short-term assets portfolio and a long-term asset portfolio.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein:

if there are more assets than are needed to find the goals, then part of the assets are invested in the short-term assets portfolio and the remaining assets are invested in the long-term assets portfolio; and

if there are not enough assets to fund the goals, then the shortage is funded from the on-going savings and tax-deferred assets of the user.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the portfolio integration module is configured for at least one of:

dividing the value of all goals occurring within a predetermined time by the value of the regular assets in order to determine the percentage of regular assets to invest in at least one of the short-term assets portfolio and the long-term assets portfolio;

determining the Variable Universal Life insurance cash values, premiums, and costs in order to determine the Variable Universal Life insurance cash values and premiums to invest in at least one of the short-term assets portfolio and the long-term assets portfolio;

dynamically updating the proposed situation portfolio as the user changes at least one of the goals, risk tolerance, contributions, assets, and cash value policies;

calculating the value of at least one of the short-term assets portfolio and the long-term assets portfolio using at least one of the following calculations;

current regular assets balance is the sum of all regular asset values in the current situation portfolio;

current regular contributions balance is the sum of annual contributions to the regular assets in the current situation portfolio;

current retirement balance is the sum of the asset values in all retirement accounts in the current situation portfolio;

current retirement contributions balance is the sum of the contributions in all retirement accounts in the current situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals cash value balance for a first client is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals where the first client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals cash value balance for a second client is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals where the second client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals cash value balance is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the current situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals premiums balance for a first client is the sum of all premiums in the whole or universal life goals where the first client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals premiums balance for a second client is the sum of all premiums in the whole or universal life goals where the second client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals premiums balance is the sum of all premiums in the whole or universal life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second client, where the insured is in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals cash value balance for a first client is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals where the first client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals cash value balance for a second client is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals where the second client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals cash value balance is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals premiums balance for a first client is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life goals where the first client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals premiums balance for a second client is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life goals where the first client is the insured in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals premiums balance is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life which is not a cash value balance is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life where the owner is not a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients in the current situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life which is not a premiums balance is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life where the owner is not a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients in the current situation portfolio; and

policy_goals balance is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals plus the cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals; and

calculating the value of at least one of the short-term assets portfolio and the long-term assets portfolio using at least one of the following calculations;

proposed regular assets balance is the sum of all regular asset values in the proposed situation portfolio;

proposed regular contributions balance is the sum of annual contributions to the regular assets in the proposed situation portfolio;

proposed retirement balance is the sum of asset values in all retirement accounts in the proposed situation portfolio;

proposed retirement contributions balance is the sum of contributions in all retirement accounts in the proposed situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals cash value balance for a first client is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals where the first client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals cash value balance for a second client is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals where the second client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

whole or, universal life goals cash value balance is the sum of all cash values in the whole or universal life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the proposed situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals premiums balance for a first client is the sum of all premiums in the whole or universal life goals where the first client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals premiums balance for a second client is the sum of all premiums in the whole or universal life goals where the second client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

whole or universal life goals premiums balance is the sum of all premiums in the whole or universal life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals cash value balance for a first client is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals where the first client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals cash value balance for a second client is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals where the second client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals cash value balance is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals premiums balance for a first client is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life goals where the first client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal. Life goals premiums balance for a second client is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life goals where the first client is the insured in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life goals premiums balance is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life goals owned by a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients, where the insured is in the proposed situation portfolio;

Variable Universal Life which is not cash value balance is the sum of all cash values in the Variable Universal Life where the owner is not a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients in the proposed situation portfolio; and

Variable Universal Life which is not premiums balance is the sum of all premiums in the Variable Universal Life where the owner is not a first client, a second client, or the combination of the first and second clients in the proposed situation portfolio.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the portfolio integration module is configured to determine the amount of at least one of taxable savings, tax-deferred savings, and cash value insurance premiums to be invested in at least one of a short-term savings portfolio and a long-term savings portfolio.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein creation of the proposed situation portfolio includes analysis of a normal life span, disability, long-term care, early death, life insurance information, disability insurance information, Social Security, social pension, asset structure, savings, goals, retirement information, expenses, tax structure of assets, savings, company pension information, and other factors affecting the user'"'"'s financial or personal situation.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein creation of the proposed situation portfolio further includes at least one of:

customized timelines for at least one of normal life span, disability, long-term care, early death, life insurance information, disability insurance information, Social Security, social pension, asset structure, savings, goals, retirement information, expenses, tax structure of assets, savings, company pension information, and other factors affecting the user'"'"'s financial or personal situation;

customized timelines for each member of a family; and

analysis of life expectancy on factors other than retirement information.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a portfolio reconciler module, a stochastic modeling module, and a simulator module in communication with the portfolio integration module in order to further facilitate the financial portfolio planning of the user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user.

13. A method for facilitating financial advising and planning, comprising the steps of:

integrating at least one of a user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance to facilitate analysis of a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of a user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user; and

forecasting the effects of the proposed situation portfolio on the user'"'"'s portfolio.

14. A system for facilitating financial advising and planning, comprising:

a host system including a processor for processing data associated with a user;

a memory in communication with the processor for storing the data;

an input digitizer in communication with the memory and the processor for inputting the data into the memory; and

an application program stored in the memory and accessible by the processor for directing processing of the data by the processor, wherein the application program is configured to facilitate the steps of;

integrating at least one of a user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance to facilitate analysis of a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of a user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user; and

forecasting the effects of the proposed situation portfolio on the user'"'"'s portfolio.

15. A computer implemented method for facilitating financial advising and planning, comprising the steps of:

obtaining data in connection with a user via a communication channel in communication with a computer system having a memory and a processor; and

storing the data in the memory and configuring, via said processor, the data to integrate at least one of the user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance in analyzing a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of the user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user.

16. A system for facilitating financial advising and planning, comprising:

a host server for accepting and processing data in connection with a user; and

a database in communication with the host server for collecting data on the user and using a portfolio integration module to analyze the data in order to integrate at least one of the user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance in analyzing a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of the user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user.

17. A system for facilitating financial advising and planning, comprising:

a browser for submitting data to a web server, wherein the browser and the web server communicate via a communication channel and the data submitted to the web server includes information in connection with at least one of a user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance; and

a portfolio integration module associated with the web server for using at least one of the user'"'"'s goals, assets, savings, and risk tolerance to develop a customized strategy for financial portfolio planning of the user and creation of a proposed situation portfolio for the user.