Financial Instrument Transferable from an Employer to an Employee
First Claim
1. A method for administering a financial instrument, the method comprising:
- storing a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee;
storing a minimum positive growth rate;
updating the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments;
calculating, by one or more processor devices executing logic, a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and
upon occurrence of one or more events, transferring ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary'"'"'s choice of either;
a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, orfor the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
According to one embodiment, a method for administering a financial instrument includes storing a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee. The employee retirement plan account includes one or more variable investments. The balance of the employee retirement plan account is based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee. The method also includes storing a minimum positive growth rate. The method further includes updating the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments. The method further includes calculating a protected value, and, upon occurrence of one or more events, transferring ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for administering a financial instrument, the method comprising:
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storing a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee; storing a minimum positive growth rate; updating the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments; calculating, by one or more processor devices executing logic, a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and upon occurrence of one or more events, transferring ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary'"'"'s choice of either; a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, or for the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A data processing system, comprising:
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one or more processing modules; and one or more memory devices storing; a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee; a minimum positive growth rate; and software configured, when executed by the one or more processing modules, to; update the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments; calculate a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and upon occurrence of one or more events, transfer ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary'"'"'s choice of either; a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, or for the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A tangible medium encoded with software, the software configured, when executed by one or more processing modules, to:
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store a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee; store a minimum positive growth rate; update the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments; calculate a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and upon occurrence of one or more events, transfer ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary'"'"'s choice of either; a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, or for the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification