System and method for income planner

Abstract

The invention forecasts a customer's annual withdrawals, manages order of withdrawal, forecasts likelihood that assets at retirement will provide needs for retirement, and provides ability to perform alternative analysis by changing various retirement goals, such as preservation of principal, amount of income desired, or expected length of retirement.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a current asset allocation and in-retirement goals, the in-retirement goals comprising an income goal, an estate goal, and a years in retirement goal;   receiving input to set a first one of the in-retirement goals as priority goal;   performing, using a computer, an analysis based on said in-retirement goals, the priority goal and said current asset allocation, the analysis ensuring that the priority goal is met;   forecasting, using the computer and results of said analysis, a first likelihood that assets at retirement meet the in-retirement goals when the priority goal is met;   setting a second one of the in-retirement goals as an updated priority goal;   performing, using the computer, an alternative analysis based on the updated priority goal, the alternative analysis ensuring that the updated priority goal is met, wherein the likelihood of meeting the in-retirement goals is determined while all other goals are held constant;   forecasting, using the computer and results of the alternative analysis, a second likelihood that assets at retirement meet the in-retirement goals when the updated priority goal is met; and   recommending a course of action based on the first likelihood and the second likelihood.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said forecasting is based on:
 financial holdings from outside and inside financial institutions,   which financial institutions currently house the financial holdings,   whether each financial holding is a tax-deferred account,   input from other income planning tools, and   for equities, bonds or mutual funds, the CUSIP or symbol, number of shares held and whether the dividends are being reinvested.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 projecting annual snapshot cash flows from said current asset allocation and determining if a gap exists between projected cash flows and said income goal.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said cash flows comprise dividend and interest sources, and non-fluctuating sources, and wherein said dividend and interest sources comprise equity dividend, fixed income, and cash payments, and wherein said non-fluctuating sources comprise income property, social security, and pension payments. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 providing a current performance planning table, wherein said current performance planning table includes:   current yield and total return information representing which holdings of said assets provide cash flow versus growth required to meet said in-retirement goals, and   information on each asset's annual income, 1-year and 5-year total returns, and current value.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising a current summary showing a breakdown of said cash flow into said dividend and interest sources, said non-fluctuating sources, total cash flow, and said income goal. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 providing an in-retirement income stream withdrawal strategy, wherein said withdrawal strategy:
 avoids withdrawal of assets from tax-deferred accounts during a first time period, and 
 provides for withdrawal from one or more tax-deferred accounts during a second time period. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said withdrawal strategy further comprises designating when and how much to withdraw from taxable, 401 K, traditional IRA, and Roth IRA accounts. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising an asset draw down schedule over each retirement year. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising determining required minimum distribution (RMD) income streams based on total value of tax-deferred assets. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising a report showing annual tax-deferred account withdrawals, and year-end tax-deferred account balances. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising providing financial and nonfinancial alternatives in order to attempt to increase said first likelihood of meeting said in-retirement goals. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said non-financial alternatives increase said first likelihood by requiring a relaxing of at least one of said in-retirement goals. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said financial alternatives attempt to increase said first likelihood by altering said asset allocation and thereby assuming a better diversified portfolio. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 generating a report showing said in-retirement goals and said first likelihood versus said modified in-retirement goals, said modified in-retirement goals comprising said at least one of said relaxed in-retirement goals, and showing said subsequent possible increased likelihood, the increased likelihood being equivalent to the second likelihood.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating a report showing said in-retirement goals and said first likelihood versus said altered asset allocation, and showing said subsequent possible increased likelihood, the increased likelihood being equivalent to the second likelihood.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein asset allocation preferences are incorporated. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating action plans for attempting to increase said first likelihood, said action plans comprising means for conveying whether to buy or sell said assets.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein each asset class holding are separated from each other small company holdings are separated from large, international, and fixed income company holdings. 
     
     
         21 .- 35 . (canceled) 
     
     
         36 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a current asset allocation and in-retirement goals, the in-retirement goals comprising an income goal, an estate goal, a years in retirement goal;   receiving input to set a first one of the in-retirement goals as priority goal;   performing, using a computer, an analysis based on the in-retirement goals, the priority goal and the current asset allocation, the analysis ensuring that the priority goal is met;   providing, using the computer and based on the analysis, an in-retirement income stream withdrawal strategy, wherein said withdrawal strategy:
 avoids withdrawal of assets from tax-deferred accounts during a first time period, and 
 provides for withdrawal from one or more tax-deferred accounts during a second time period; 
   generating, using the computer and the results of the analysis, a findings overview report and an asset drawn down schedule, wherein:
 the findings overview report includes the in-retirement goals, the first likelihood that the priority goal will be met if the in-retirement income stream withdrawal strategy is followed, and 
 the asset drawn down schedule shows a predicted end of year account balance for each of different types of customer accounts if the in-retirement income stream withdrawal strategy is followed; 
   determining, based on the findings overview report and asset draw down schedule, to perform an alternative analysis based on reprioritized in-retirement goals to improve likelihood of meeting the in-retirement goals, wherein the alternative analysis at least includes an analysis based on altering the current asset allocation or relaxing at least one of the in-retirement goals;   setting a second one of the in-retirement goals as an updated priority goal;   performing, using the computer, the alternative analysis based on the updated priority goal, the alternative analysis ensuring that the updated priority goal is met, wherein the likelihood of meeting the in-retirement goals is determined while all other goals are held constant;   generating, using the computer and the results of the alternative analysis, a modified findings overview report and a modified asset draw down schedule based on the alternative analysis; and   recommending a course of action based on the modified findings overview report and the modified asset draw down schedule.