Method and system for optimizing savings benefits

• US 8,930,217 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FMR LLC
• Original Assignee: FMR LLC
• Inventors: Feinschreiber, Steven Andrew, Devaney, Stephen J., Wise, Christi Rager, Chun, Don, Sharma, Adheesh, Herman, Charles Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): PAULS, JOHN A
• Application Number:
  US14/017,959
• Publication Number:
  US 20140006050A1
• Time in Patent Office: 489 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages
• 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

Abstract

A method is provided for optimizing savings in financial accounts, including healthcare and retirement accounts for an employee and or participant. The method includes receiving information about the participant and financial accounts for which the participant is eligible to use and or using, and generating for the participant a savings hierarchy recommending the order and amounts to be contributed to the financial accounts from the participant'"'"'s budgeted savings dollars. The method also includes determining generating the savings hierarchy for both full year and partial year activity by the participant. The method further includes transmitting the recommendations to the participant via data displayed as a graphical user interface with a graphical representation of the savings hierarchy to provide the participant with ease of understanding the recommendations for optimizing the budgeted savings dollars or selected contribution amount.

Claims

1. A computerized method for maximizing savings benefits for an employee by managing health care and retirement contributions, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device from a graphical user interface device, input identifying a participant and a contribution budget for the participant that specifies a total amount available for allocation for a remaining part of the current year;

retrieving, by the computing device, information identifying a plurality of financial accounts associated with the participant, wherein the plurality of financial accounts comprises at least a retirement account associated with a retirement plan and at least one health care account associated with a health care plan, wherein the retrieved information comprises at least an annual limit on participant contribution amounts for each of the financial accounts and previous contribution amounts deposited respectively in each of the financial accounts during the current year by the participant;

generating, by the computing device, partial year adjusted contribution limits for the plurality of financial accounts, the partial year adjusted contribution limits being derived from at least the annual limits and the previous contribution amounts;

generating, by the computing device, a savings hierarchy that identifies a plurality of savings milestones for the remaining part of the current year represented by data comprising (i) a recommended funding sequence of the plurality of financial accounts and (ii) recommended contribution amounts for the plurality of financial accounts at each step of the funding sequence for the remaining part of the current year, wherein the recommended funding sequence and the recommended contribution amounts are dependent on the partial year adjusted contribution limits;

allocating, by the computing device, the contribution budget across the financial accounts according to the recommended funding sequence and up to the recommended contribution amounts of the savings hierarchy limited by the contribution budget; and

transmitting, by the computing device, the saving hierarchy including the recommended funding sequence and the recommended contribution amounts for display on the graphical user interface device, wherein the display comprises a graphical representation that visually depicts (i) the savings hierarchy as a plurality of consecutive sectors, each sector identifying at least a portion of a financial account that corresponds to a step in the recommended funding sequence, a length of each sector representing a corresponding recommended contribution amount, and the respective positions of the plurality of consecutive sectors representing the recommended funding sequence and (ii) a graphical indicator referencing a position on the savings hierarchy that represents a level to which the financial accounts are funded by the allocated contribution budget.

2. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising,

receiving, by the computing device, from the graphical user interface input specifying an updated contribution budget for a remaining part of the current year;

reallocating, by the computing device, the updated contribution budget across the financial accounts based on the recommended funding sequence and up to the recommended contribution amounts of the savings hierarchy limited by the updated contribution budget; and

displaying, by the computing device, on the graphical user interface an updated representation of the savings hierarchy with the graphical indicator referencing a position on the savings hierarchy that represents a level to which the financial accounts are funded by the allocated updated contribution budget.

3. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising generating the savings hierarchy based on a predetermined set of rules for the plurality of financial accounts.

4. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising generating the savings hierarchy based on a marginal tax rate in retirement.

5. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising generating the savings hierarchy based on tax related adjustments from the marginal tax rate in retirement.

6. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising,

retrieving, by the computing device, an employer match amount for at least one of the plurality of financial accounts;

further adjusting, by the computing device, the partial year adjusted contribution limits for the plurality of financial accounts, the partial year adjusted contribution limits being derived from at least the annual limits, the previous contribution amounts, and the employer match amount; and

wherein the savings hierarchy for the remaining partial year is based on the plurality of financial accounts, the retrieved information, the partial year adjusted contribution limits, and the employer match amount.

7. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of accounts includes a interest-bearing debt account comprising at least a balance, an interest rate and a minimum payment amount.

8. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising generating the savings hierarchy to apportion the contribution budget to the health care account to cover at least an eligible spending amount specified by the health care plan.

9. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of accounts includes an IRA account and the retrieved information about the IRA account comprises at least a balance, annual limits on participant contribution amounts for the IRA account and previous contribution amounts deposited respectively in the IRA account during the current year by the participant.

10. The computerized method of claim 9, further comprising determining IRA eligibility for partial amounts based on the partial year adjusted contribution limits and the retrieved information about the IRA account.

11. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the savings hierarchy, by the computing device, in the shape of an arch.

12. The computerized method of claim 11, further comprising displaying the indicator, by the computing device, as a dial that rotates along the edge of the arch.

13. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the recommended contribution amount corresponding to a sector is represented as met when the indicator reaches an end of the sector.

14. The computerized method of claim 13, further comprising the graphical user interface representing allocating at least a portion of the contribution budge to the next sector in the order of the recommended funding sequence of the savings hierarchy when the recommended contribution amount for the previous sector is met by moving the indicator into the next sector.

15. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the arch length of each sector is varied to represent the corresponding recommended contribution amount for each sector.

16. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising displaying each sector, by the computing device, having a first subsection and a second subsection, the first subsection representing a percentage of the corresponding recommended contribution amount funded by the contribution budget and the second subsection representing a percentage of the corresponding recommended contribution amount funded by an employer match amount.

17. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising,

retrieving, by the computing device, an employer seed amount for at least one of the plurality of financial accounts;

further adjusting, by the computing device, the partial year adjusted contribution limits for the plurality of financial accounts, the partial year adjusted contribution limits being derived from at least the annual limits, the previous contribution amounts, and the employer seed amount; and

wherein the savings hierarchy for the remaining partial year is based on the plurality of financial accounts, the retrieved information, the partial year adjusted contribution limits, and the employer seed amount.

18. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising displaying each sector, by the computing device, having a first subsection and a second subsection, the first subsection representing a percentage of the corresponding recommended contribution amount funded by the contribution budget and the second subsection representing a percentage of the corresponding recommended contribution amount funded by an employer seed amount.

19. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising generating, in response to the occurrence of a qualified life event, a second savings hierarchy for the remaining part of the current year after the qualified life event.

20. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a machine readable storage device, the computer program product including instructions being operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:

receive, at a graphical user interface device, input identifying a participant and a contribution budget for the participant that specifies a total amount available for allocation for a remaining part of the current year;

retrieve information identifying a plurality of financial accounts associated with the participant, wherein the plurality of financial accounts comprises at least a retirement account associated with a retirement plan and at least one health care account associated with a health care plan, wherein the retrieved information comprises at least an annual limit on participant contribution amounts for each of the financial accounts and previous contribution amounts deposited respectively in each of the financial accounts during the current year by the participant;

generate partial year adjusted contribution limits for the plurality of financial accounts, the partial year adjusted contribution limits being derived from at least the annual limits and the previous contribution amounts;

generate a savings hierarchy that identifies a plurality of savings milestones for the remaining part of the current year represented by data comprising (i) a recommended funding sequence of the plurality of financial accounts and (ii) recommended contribution amounts for the plurality of financial accounts at each step of the funding sequence for the remaining part of the current year, wherein the recommended funding sequence and the recommended contribution amounts are dependent on the partial year adjusted contribution limits;

allocate the contribution budget across the financial accounts according to the recommended funding sequence and up to the recommended contribution amounts of the savings hierarchy limited by the contribution budget; and

transmit the saving hierarchy including the recommended funding sequence and the recommended contribution amounts for display on the graphical user interface device, wherein the display comprises a graphical representation that visually depicts (i) the savings hierarchy as a plurality of consecutive sectors, each sector identifying at least a portion of a financial account that corresponds to a step in the recommended funding sequence, a length of each sector representing a corresponding recommended contribution amount, and the respective positions of the plurality of consecutive sectors representing the recommended funding sequence and (ii) a graphical indicator referencing a position on the savings hierarchy that represents a level to which the financial accounts are funded by the allocated contribution budget.

21. A system for maximizing savings benefits for an employee by managing health care and retirement contributions, comprising:

means for receiving input identifying a participant and a contribution budget for the participant that specifies a total amount available for allocation for a remaining part of the current year;

means for retrieving information identifying a plurality of financial accounts associated with the participant, wherein the plurality of financial accounts comprises at least a retirement account associated with a retirement plan and at least one health care account associated with a health care plan, wherein the retrieved information comprises at least an annual limit on participant contribution amounts for each of the financial accounts and previous contribution amounts deposited respectively in each of the financial accounts during the current year by the participant;

means for generating partial year adjusted contribution limits for the plurality of financial accounts, the partial year adjusted contribution limits being derived from at least the annual limits and the previous contribution amounts;

means for generating a savings hierarchy that identifies a plurality of savings milestones for the remaining part of the current year represented by data comprising (i) a recommended funding sequence of the plurality of financial accounts and (ii) recommended contribution amounts for the plurality of financial accounts at each step of the funding sequence for the remaining part of the current year, wherein the recommended funding sequence and the recommended contribution amounts are dependent on the partial year adjusted contribution limits;

means for allocating the contribution budget across the financial accounts according to the recommended funding sequence and up to the recommended contribution amounts of the savings hierarchy limited by the contribution budget; and

means for transmitting the saving hierarchy including the recommended funding sequence and the recommended contribution amounts for display on a graphical user interface device, wherein the display comprises a graphical representation that visually depicts (i) the savings hierarchy as a plurality of consecutive sectors, each sector identifying at least a portion of a financial account that corresponds to a step in the recommended funding sequence, a length of each sector representing a corresponding recommended contribution amount, and the respective positions of the plurality of consecutive sectors representing the recommended funding sequence and (ii) a graphical indicator referencing a position on the savings hierarchy that represents a level to which the financial accounts are funded by the allocated contribution budget.