US2013179358A1PendingUtilityA1
Method and system for providing employer- sponsored retirement plan
Assignee: INSURANCE COMPANY LINCOLN NAT LIFEPriority: Jul 18, 2006Filed: Feb 28, 2013Published: Jul 11, 2013
Est. expiryJul 18, 2026(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
G06Q 40/08G06Q 10/1057
50
PatentIndex Score
0
Cited by
0
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0
Claims
Abstract
A method of administering income distributions from an employer-sponsored retirement plan having a participant account value comprises providing an option to a plan participant to elect lifetime payout funded by at least a portion of the participant's account value; providing an option to the participant to elect an excess period during which a participant maintains control over the portion of the account value; transferring the portion of the participant's account value into a group annuity contract; determining an initial benefit payment under the terms of the group annuity contract; determining a subsequent benefit payment; and paying the initial and subsequent payments to the participant. Other embodiments include one or more of these, and the step of determining a charge to be paid by the participant for the guaranteed lifetime payout.
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modifiedWhat is claimed is:
1 . A method of administering income distributions from an employer-sponsored retirement plan having a participant account value, comprising the steps of:
providing an option to a plan participant to elect a lifetime payout funded by at least a portion of the participant's account value; providing an option to the participant to elect an access period during which the participant maintains control over said portion of the participant's account value; transferring said portion of the participant's account value into a group annuity contract; determining an initial benefit payment under the terms of the group annuity contract; determining a subsequent benefit payment; and paying the initial and subsequent benefit payments to the participant.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the participant's control over said portion of the participant's account value during the access period is governed by pre-existing plan rules.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the participant's control over said portion of the participant's account value during the access period includes at least one of the right to withdraw funds, the right to direct investments, and the right to make deposits.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial and subsequent benefit payments are paid to the participant through existing plan processes.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial benefit, per $1,000 of account value, is determined by the following factor:
AnnuityFactor
=
1
,
000
a
¨
(
m
)
AP
+
v
AP
(
1
-
PT
)
*
(
1
-
ExpLoad
)
*
a
¨
x
+
AP
(
m
)
where:
m is the frequency of benefit payments,
ExpLoad is the provision for expenses,
x is the participant's age when the benefit payments begin,
PT is any premium tax,
AP is the length of the annuity certain period,
v is the discount factor for length of the access period, and
ä is the present value of the annuity.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subsequent benefit payment is determined for each calendar year by the following formula:
Subsequent
Benefit
Payment
=
CurrentAccountValue
a
¨
(
m
)
AP
-
r
+
v
AP
-
r
(
1
-
PT
)
*
(
1
-
ExpLoad
)
*
a
¨
x
+
AP
(
m
)
where:
m is the frequency of benefit payments,
ExpLoad is the provision for expenses,
x is the participant's age when the benefit payments begin,
PT is any premium tax,
AP is the length of the annuity certain period,
v is the discount factor for length of the access period,
r is the number of payment periods elapsed since the benefit start date, and
ä is the present value of the annuity.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of determining a total of benefit payments made in a calendar year and comparing the total to a minimum required annual distribution amount to insure that the total is at least equal to the required minimum amount.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein benefit payments are made monthly and wherein benefit payments for a remainder of the calendar year which includes a benefit start date are set equal to the initial benefit payment.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subsequent benefit payment is determined annually and paid monthly, and wherein monthly payments following determination are equal.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subsequent benefit payment is determined and paid monthly.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a death benefit, based on participant's account value, to be paid if participant dies during a period in which an account value is available.
12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a joint life distribution option which may be elected by the participant, and providing at least one of a lump sum death benefit and payment of lifetime benefits to a designated beneficiary upon death of the participant.
13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a minimum benefit payment guarantee to ensure that subsequent benefit payments will not fall below a predetermined level.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the initial benefit payment and the subsequent benefit payment is made from a Plan Distributed Annuity.Join the waitlist — get patent alerts
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