Systems and methods for providing a benefit product with periodic guaranteed income

• US 9,105,065 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2013
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Genworth Holdings, Inc. (Genworth Financial Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Genworth Holdings, Inc. (Genworth Financial Incorporated)
• Inventors: Templeman, James C., Sharpe, Matthew, Leighton, Kristi, Haley, Paul, Stiff, Geoffrey S., White, William S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Application Number:
  US13/872,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20130317866A1
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• Field of Search: 705/30, 705/36, 705/36.R, 705/39, 705/322
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A computer implemented method and system that implements a benefit product that provides a guaranteed income amount for a participant, the benefit product generates the guaranteed income amount by participating in a plurality of guaranteed income products (GI products). The system may comprise: (1) an income aggregator portion; (2) a savings recordkeeper portion that maintains an investment account associated with the benefit product, the investment account into which the payments to the benefit product pass; and (3) at least one income recordkeeper portion, each income recordkeeper portion administering one or more GI products, each income recordkeeper portion: determining, based on an attributable allocation to a particular GI product, a guaranteed income associated with such particular GI product, each guaranteed income being an amount, attributable to the particular GI product, that is payable to a participant. The income aggregator performs allocation processing, the allocation processing being performed based on funds transfer data, the funds transfer data including (1) first funds transfer data that reflects activity of the investment account and benefit product associated therewith, and (2) second funds transfer data that reflects activity of a respective GI product.

Claims

1. A system that implements a benefit product that provides a guaranteed income amount for a participant, the benefit product generates the guaranteed income amount by participating in a plurality of guaranteed income products (GI products), the system in the form of a computer processing system using computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon which when executed cause the computer processing system to perform processing, the system comprising:

an income aggregator portion, embodied in a tangible computer-readable medium;

a savings recordkeeper portion, embodied in the tangible computer-readable medium, that maintains an investment account associated with the benefit product, the investment account into which the payments to the benefit product pass; and

at least one income recordkeeper portion, embodied in the tangible computer-readable medium, each income recordkeeper portion;

determining, based on an attributable allocation to a particular GI product, a guaranteed income associated with such particular GI product, each guaranteed income being an amount, attributable to the particular GI product, that is payable to a participant; and

the income aggregator performing allocation processing, the allocation processing being performed based on funds transfer data, the funds transfer data including (1) first funds transfer data that reflects activity of the investment account and benefit product associated therewith, and (2) second funds transfer data that reflects activity of a respective GI product, the allocation processing including;

the income aggregator portion inputting the first funds transfer data;

the income aggregator portion determining allocations attributable to and among the GI products and outputting allocated first funds transfer data to the respective GI products;

the income aggregator portion receiving second funds transfer data reflective of the activity of respective GI products; and

the income aggregator portion consolidating the second funds transfer data, and outputting consolidated second funds transfer data.

2. The system of claim 1, the allocation processing further including the income aggregator portion inputting the first funds transfer data from a savings recordkeeper portion.

3. The system of claim 2, the allocation processing further including the income aggregator portion outputting the consolidated second funds transfer data to the savings recordkeeper portion.

4. The system of claim 1, the allocation processing further including the income aggregator portion outputting the consolidated second funds transfer data to a savings recordkeeper portion.

5. The system of claim 1, each income recordkeeper portion administering one or more GI products.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each GI product is administered by a respective income recordkeeper portion;

and

each respective income recordkeeper portion is in the form of one of an insurance company, a bookkeeping company, recordkeeping company, and a third party administrator; and

the savings recordkeeper portion, the income aggregator portion, and the income recordkeeper portion are each maintained by a respective different entity.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the savings recordkeeper portion, the income aggregator portion, and the income recordkeeper portion is maintained by a single entity.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the income aggregator portion outputs multiple respective allocated funds transfer data to a single income recordkeeper portion based on respective GI products that such single income recordkeeper portion administers;

and the allocation processing of the funds transfer data, performed by the income aggregator portion, includes;

determining the allocation of participant values and transactions as recorded by the savings recordkeeper to the particular income recordkeeper.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing of the funds transfer data, performed by the income aggregator portion, includes:

determining the aggregation of participant values, available transactions, and income guarantees across income recordkeepers for the savings recordkeeper.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing of the funds transfer data, performed by the income aggregator portion, includes:

determining cash settlements between the benefit product and the GI products.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing, of the funds transfer data, includes allocation of fees and expenses associated with the GI products so as to allocate the fees and expenses due each GI product to the respective GI product.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein fees and expenses due each GI product are withdrawn from the respective GI product if fees and expenses are similar or different in rate among GI products.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein fees and expenses due each GI product are accrued by each respective GI product if fees and expenses are similar in rate among GI products.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing, of the funds transfer data, includes allocation of contributions and transfers into the benefit product from the GI products, such allocation of contributions and transfers into the benefit product being performed based on a schedule;

and

wherein the allocation processing of the funds transfer data, includes aggregation of distributions and withdrawals from the GI products to the benefit product.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing, of funds transfer data, includes allocation of distributions and withdrawals from the benefit product up to and including each participant'"'"'s guaranteed income amount is performed pro-rata on each participant'"'"'s guaranteed income amount among the GI products;

and the allocating processing of funds transfer data, including allocation of distributions and withdrawals from the benefit product is performed pro-rata on each participant'"'"'s balance among the GI products; and

the allocation processing, of funds transfer data, of distributions and withdrawals from the benefit product above each participant'"'"'s guaranteed income amount is performed pro-rata on each participant'"'"'s balance among the GI products.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing, of funds transfer data, of distributions and withdrawals from the benefit product above each participant'"'"'s guaranteed income amount is performed pro-rata on each participant'"'"'s balance among the GI products.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the allocation processing, of funds transfer data, includes allocation of a benefit payment, due from each GI product, to the respective GI product;

and the savings recordkeeper maintains an investment account for each participant without respect to any monetary balance in the investment account.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one income recordkeeper portion administering one or more GI products consists of one income recordkeeper administering a plurality of GI products.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one income recordkeeper portion administering one or more GI products comprises a plurality of income recordkeepers, each of whose administering consists of administering a single GI product.

20. A method that implements a benefit product that provides a guaranteed income amount for a participant, the benefit product generating the guaranteed income amount by participating in a plurality of guaranteed income products (GI products), the method implemented by a computer processing system using computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon which when executed cause the computer processing system to perform processing, the method comprising:

inputting first funds transfer data, by an income aggregator processing system, from a savings recordkeeper portion that maintains an investment account associated with the benefit product, the investment account into which the payments to the benefit product pass, the income aggregator processing system being in the form of a tangibly embodied processing portion;

inputting second funds transfer data, by the income aggregator processing system, from at least one income recordkeeper portion, each income recordkeeper portion administering one or more GI products, each income recordkeeper portion determining, based on an attributable allocation to a particular GI product, a guaranteed income associated with such particular GI product, each guaranteed income being an amount, attributable to the particular GI product, that is payable to a participant; and

performing allocation processing, the allocation processing being performed based on funds transfer data, the funds transfer data including (1) the first funds transfer data that reflects activity of the investment account and benefit product associated therewith, and (2) the second funds transfer data that reflects activity of a respective GI product, the allocation processing including;

inputting the first funds transfer data from the savings recordkeeper portion;

determining allocations attributable to and among the GI products;

outputting allocated first funds transfer data;

receiving the second funds transfer data reflective of the activity of respective GI products;

consolidating the second funds transfer data, and

outputting consolidated second funds transfer data.