Method and apparatus for managing financial accounts

• US 8,239,298 B1
• Filed: 07/24/2003
• Issued: 08/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: David B. Wilson, Frederick C. Buffum
• Original Assignee: David B. Wilson, Frederick C. Buffum
• Inventors: Wilson, David B., Buffum, Frederick C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Colbert, Ella
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shaikh, Mohammad Z
• Application Number:
  US10/626,885
• Time in Patent Office: 3,302 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/1.1
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

Method, system, and computer-readable medium are provided for optimizing an allocation of money to assets and liabilities. A method includes providing at least one asset comprising a value and a projected return rate at which the value is expected to appreciate over a period, providing at least one liability including a liability amount and an interest rate at which the liability amount is expected to depreciate over said period, and optimizing an allocation of money to the at least one asset and the at least one liability based on the expected appreciation of the at least one asset and the expected depreciation of the at least one liability.

Claims

1. A computer-enabled method for optimizing an allocation of money to a plurality of existing accounts including at least one asset account and at least one liability account, comprising:

(a) receiving from a user, through an interface of a computer system, at least one of an income entry and an expense entry;

(b) calculating, by a computer system, free cash flow as a difference between all income entries and all expense entries, relating to the plurality of existing accounts, the free cash flow being expressed in terms of an amount of money;

(c) receiving an input from a user defining at least one asset account, relating to the plurality of existing accounts, including at least one asset, wherein each asset account has a value and a projected return rate, and wherein the projected return rate represents a rate at which the value is expected to change over a period;

(d) receiving an input from a user defining at least one liability account, relating to the plurality of existing accounts, including at least one liability, wherein each liability account has a liability amount and an interest rate, and wherein the interest rate represents a rate at which the liability amount is expected to change over the period;

(e) calculating a net worth as a difference between all asset accounts and all liability accounts;

(f) calculating, by the computer system, the allocation of a portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the expected change in the value of each asset account and the expected change in the liability amount of each liability account, during the period, to maximize the net worth, wherein calculating the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow includes;

evaluating the plurality of existing accounts subject to conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, wherein the conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, include at least one of minimum payment amount, maximum payment amount, and current payment amount, and regulating the allocation of the free cash flow, during the period, such that the movement of the free cash flow is controlled by;

the conditions on at least one payment, the expected change in the value of each asset account, and the expected change in the liability amount of the liability account, wherein the movement results in at least one of;

minimizing the liability amount of the at least one liability account, maximizing the value of the at least one asset account during the period, realizing at least one user-defined plan and providing a recommendation to stop funding at least one of the plurality of existing accounts; and

(g) obtaining a savings output resulting from calculating the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow, the savings being expressed in terms of an amount of money, and displaying the savings output to the user on the interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the free cash flow portion allocated is 100% of the free cash flow.

3. The method according to claim 1, further including:

(h) calculating an advisor fee based on the money allocated to the at least one asset and the at least one liability.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the advisor fee is calculated as a percentage of the money allocated to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to optimize the advisor fee.

6. The method according to claim 1, further including:

(g) displaying, to a user, the allocation of money to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account, the display showing the allocation of money according to categories, the categories defined by the user.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

(i) providing for the user to allocate a portion of the savings to at least one of the at least one asset account, the at least one liability account and at least one user-defined account.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the interest rate is variable during the period.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing an allocation of money to minimize the expected change in an overall liability amount during the period, the overall liability amount comprising a sum of the liability amounts of all liability accounts.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing a fund allocation to minimize the change of the at least one account value during the period.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing an allocation of money to maximize an aggregate return over the period, the aggregate return comprising a sum of the values for all assets minus a sum of the liability amounts for all liability accounts.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing the allocation to maximize an aggregate return, wherein the aggregate return is defined by a sum of the at least one asset value after the expected change during the period and the at least one liability amount after the expected change during the period.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises calculating a tax consequence as a result of the allocation.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the act (f) further comprises modifying the allocation based on the tax consequence.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize the tax consequence.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one liability is provided as a performing debt which includes an equity portion, and wherein the act (f) further comprises planning an allocation to the at least one liability in order to maximize an increase in the equity portion of at least one performing debt during the period.

17. The method according to claim 1, further including calculating the free cash flow as a difference between a current payment and a minimum payment relating to the plurality of existing accounts.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises displaying the allocation to a user on a graphical user interface.

19. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

(h) electronically transferring money to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the allocation.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act (f) further comprises optimizing the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize liabilities.

21. A system for optimizing an allocation of money to plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account, wherein each asset account has a value and a projected return rate, the projected return rate comprising a rate at which the value is expected to change over a period, and wherein each liability account has a liability amount and an interest rate, the interest rate comprising a rate at which the liability amount is expected to change over the period, the system comprising:

a user interface that receives an input from a user defining the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account and at least one of an income entry and an expense entry;

a processing engine that calculates free cash flow as the difference between all income entries and all expense entries relating to the plurality of existing accounts, and

calculates a net worth as the difference between all asset accounts and all liability accounts, the free cash flow and the net worth being expressed in terms of an amount of money, and produces an output by calculating an allocation of a portion of the free cash flow to a plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the expected change in the value and the expected change in the liability amount during the period and to maximize the net worth, wherein calculating the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow includes;

evaluating the plurality of existing accounts subject to conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, wherein the conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, include at least one of minimum payment amount, maximum payment amount, and current payment amount, and regulating the allocation of the free cash flow, during the period, such that the movement of the free cash flow is controlled by;

the conditions on at least one payment, the expected change in the value of each asset account, and the expected change in the liability amount of the liability account, wherein the movement results in at least one of;

minimizing the liability amount of the at least one liability account, maximizing the value of the at least one asset account during the period, realizing at least one user-defined plan and providing a recommendation to stop funding at least one of the plurality of existing accounts; and

at least one electronic file storage to store the input and the output, wherein the processing engine further produces a saving output resulting from the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow, the savings being expressed in terms of an amount of money and the user interface that displays the savings output to the user.

22. The system according to claim 21, further comprising a data exchange facility which transfers the input from the user interface to the at least one electronic file storage, and transfers the output from the processing engine to the at least one electronic file storage.

23. The system according to claim 21, wherein the processing engine further produces an output allocation to minimize the expected change in the liability amount during the period.

24. The system according to claim 21, wherein the processing engine further produces an output allocation to maximize an aggregate return over the period, the aggregate return comprising a sum of the values for all asset accounts minus a sum of the liability amounts for all liability accounts.

25. The system according to claim 21, wherein the user interface further receives an input defining a tax consequence as a result of the allocation, and wherein the processing engine further produces an output defining a modified allocation based on the tax consequence.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the processing engine further produces an output allocation optimizing the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize the tax consequence.

27. The system according to claim 21, wherein the user interface further receives input defining at least one liability as a performing debt including an equity portion, and wherein the processing engine further produces an output defining an allocation in order to maximize an increase of the equity portion of at least one performing debt during the period.

28. The system according to claim 21, further comprising an electronic transfer facility to electronically transfer money to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the allocation.

29. The system according to claim 21, wherein the user interface further receives an input from the user, allocating a portion of the savings to at least one of at least one asset account, the at least one liability account and at least one user-defined account.

30. The system according to claim 21, wherein the free cash flow is further defined as a difference between a current payment and a minimum payment relating to the plurality of existing accounts.

31. The system according to claim 21, wherein the processing engine further produces an output allocation optimizing the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize liabilities.

32. The system according to claim 21, wherein the processing engine further produces an output allocation optimizing the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to optimize an advisor fee.

33. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions recorded thereon, which instructions, when executed, cause at least one processor in a computer system to perform a method comprising acts of:

(a) providing a user interface to receive input from a user, the input defining at least one of an income entry and an expense entry, and a plurality of existing accounts including at least one asset account and at least one liability account, wherein each asset account has a value and a projected return rate which is a rate at which the value is expected to change during a period, and wherein each liability account has a liability amount and an interest rate defining a rate at which the liability amount is expected to change during the period;

(b) processing the input to calculate free cash flow as the difference between all income entries and all expense entries, relating to the plurality of existing accounts, and processing the input to calculate a net worth as the difference between all asset accounts and all liability accounts, the and the net worth being expressed in terms of an amount of money, and to produce an output by calculating an allocation of a portion of the free cash flow to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the expected change in the value of the at least one asset account and the expected change in the liability amount for the at least one liability account during the period to maximize the net worth, wherein calculating the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow includes;

evaluating the plurality of existing accounts subject to conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, wherein the conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, include at least one of minimum payment amount, maximum payment amount, and current payment amount, and regulating the allocation of the free cash flow, during the period, such that the movement of the free cash flow is controlled by;

the conditions on at least one payment, the expected change in the value of each asset account, and the expected change in the liability amount of the liability account, wherein the movement results in at least one of;

minimizing the liability amount of the at least one liability account, maximizing the value of the at least one asset account during the period, realizing at least one user-defined plan and providing a recommendation to stop funding at least one of the plurality of existing accounts;

(c) displaying the output, on the user interface, to the user, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises instructions defining producing a saving output resulting from the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow the savings being expressed in terms of an amount of money and displaying the savings output to the user on the user interface.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining providing an electronic file storage to store at least one of the input and the output.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions providing an electronic transfer facility to electronically transfer money to plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the allocation.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions providing a data exchange facility which transfers the input from the user interface to the electronic file storage, and transfers the output from the processing engine to the electronic file storage.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending the allocation to minimize the increase in the liability amount of the at least one liability during the period.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining producing an output fund allocation to minimize the depreciation of the at least one account value during the period.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation to maximize an aggregate return, the aggregate return comprising a sum of all values for all assets asset accounts minus a sum of all liability amounts for all liability accounts.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining receiving at least one liability as a performing debt including an equity portion, and producing an output recommending an allocation to maximize an increase in the equity portion of at least one performing debt during the period.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining providing an electronic transfer facility to electronically transfer money to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the allocation.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining processing the input to calculate the free cash flow as a difference between a current payment and a minimum payment relating to the plurality of existing accounts.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize liabilities.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to optimize an advisor fee.

45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize a tax consequence.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 33, further comprising instructions defining receiving an input defining an allocation of a portion of the savings output to the at least one asset account, the at least one liability account and at least one user-defined account.

47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions recorded thereon, which instructions, when executed, cause at least one processor in a computer system to perform a method comprising acts of:

(a) receiving input, provided by a user via a user interface, defining at least one of an income entry and an expense entry, and a plurality of existing accounts including at least one asset account and at least one liability account, wherein each asset account has a value and a projected return rate defining a rate at which the value is expected to change during a period, and wherein each liability account has a liability amount and an interest rate defining a rate at which the liability amount is expected to change during the period;

(b) processing the input to calculate free cash flow as the difference between all income entries and all expense entries, relating to the plurality of existing accounts, and processing the input to calculate a net worth as the difference between all asset accounts and all liability accounts, the free cash flow and the net worth being expressed in terms of an amount of money, and to produce an output by calculating an allocation of a portion of the free cash flow to the plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the expected change in the value of the at least one asset and the expected change in the liability amount of the at least one liability during the period to maximize the net worth wherein calculating the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow includes;

evaluating the plurality of existing accounts subject to conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, wherein the conditions on at least one payment made to each of the plurality of existing accounts, include at least one of minimum payment amount, maximum payment amount, and current payment amount, and regulating the allocation of the free cash flow, during the period, such that the movement of the free cash flow is controlled by;

the conditions on at least one payment, the expected change in the value of each asset account, and the expected change in the liability amount of the liability account, wherein the movement results in at least one of;

minimizing the liability amount of the at least one liability account, maximizing the value of the at least one asset account during the period, realizing at least one user-defined plan and providing a recommendation to stop funding at least one of the plurality of existing accounts;

(c) transmitting the output to the user via the user interface, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises instructions defining producing a savings output resulting from the allocation of the portion of the free cash flow the savings being expressed in terms of an amount of money and transmitting the savings output to the user via the user interface.

48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining providing an electronic file storage to store at least one of the input and the output.

49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions providing an electronic transfer facility to electronically transfer money to plurality of existing accounts including the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account based on the allocation.

50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions providing a data exchange facility which transfers the input from the user interface to the electronic file storage, and transfers the output from the processing engine to the electronic file storage.

51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining producing an output fund allocation to minimize the change of the at least one account value during the period.

52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation to maximize an aggregate return, the aggregate return comprising a sum of the values for all asset accounts minus a sum of the liability amounts for all liability accounts.

53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining receiving an input defining an allocation of a portion of the savings output to the at least one asset account, the at least one liability account and at least one user-defined account.

54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining processing the input to calculate the free cash flow as a difference between a current payment and a minimum payment relating to the plurality of existing accounts.

55. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize liabilities.

56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to optimize an advisor fee.

57. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 47, further comprising instructions defining producing an output recommending an allocation the portion of the free cash flow to the at least one asset account and the at least one liability account to minimize a tax consequence.