Patent Issued for Graphical user interface for participants and service representatives in a financial planning system (USPTO 11645709): Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America

2023 MAY 31 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Hough, Sean (Thornton, CO, US), Probetts, Daryl (Highlands Ranch, CO, US), filed on May 21, 2019, was published online on May 9, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11645709 is assigned to Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The disclosure relates generally to account management, and more specifically to, a user interface for manipulating account projections based on financial data captured and aggregated from multiple sources.

“Increasingly, individuals are responsible for managing their own personal retirement accounts, which may be supplemented by employer contributions. Individual accountholders may be ill-equipped to optimize retirement accounts, as the lengthy term of the account increases sensitivity to asset allocation, contribution strategies, withdraw strategies, and changes in supplemental retirement benefits. For example, market conditions and/or a projected retirement date may require specific adjustments to the asset allocation of the account. Additionally, contribution and withdrawal policies may change. For example, taxes may be adjusted or assessed differently from year to year. As a result, many participants in financial plans, such as employer-provided 401(k) plans, would benefit from enrollment in a financial planning system that provides enhanced services, such as recommendations and visualization tools. However, at least some known financial planning systems, in attempting to provide a more sophisticated set of tools for the user, present a dramatically different and/or more complex user interface as compared to the basic 401(k) plan management interface to which many users are accustomed. As a result, many ordinary participants may be dissuaded from enrolling in, or continuing to stay enrolled in, such enhanced services.

“Moreover, at least some known conventional on-line financial planning systems generate a large number of recommendations that overwhelm the ordinary user, and/or recommendations that are too complex for the ordinary user to grasp, and/or recommendations that result in changes that appear extreme to the ordinary user. As a result, financial planning participants using such known systems may be unable or unwilling to take steps to improve their income in retirement.

“In addition, many participants in a financial plan desire to obtain assistance from services representatives, such as in a phone call or on-line chat, rather than using such enhanced services directly. However, the user interface for service representative often varies from the user interface visible to participants, increasing a difficulty for the representative to explain precisely how suggested changes would appear to the participant. On the other hand, if the services representative is limited to seeing solely the user interface that is/would be provided to the participant, the services representative may not have ready access to additional information needed to answer questions or fully explain options to the participant.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of the disclosure by way of example and not by way of limitation. The description enables one skilled in the art to make and use the disclosure. It also describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives, and uses of the disclosure, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the disclosure.

“The systems and methods of the disclosure facilitate generating account projections based on financial data captured and aggregated from multiple sources, and alerting users, such as accountholders or services representatives, in response to changes in the account projection.

“A GUI computer system for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) is provided. The GUI computer system is in communication with at least one planning engine. The planning engine includes multiple optimization modules for planning significant personal economic events (e.g., investment, savings, retirement). The GUI computer system is configured to capture and centrally store user profile data, including the financial data used by the optimization modules, such as the composition of investment accounts (e.g., employer-provided 401(k) plans). The planning engine is configured to retrieve additional financial data from multiple external data sources, such as asset return projections. Additionally, the GUI computer system may be configured to provide a web interface to capture financial data from the user. For example, the GUI computer system may provide a HTTP API or an interactive web application through which the user can enter data. Additionally, the GUI computer system may be configured to cause the GUI to be displayed by an application installed on a mobile device of a user.

“The planning engine is configured to generate account projections in response to captured financial data. In some embodiments, the planning engine generates account projections (e.g., in near-real-time) based on updated financial data retrieved from the external data sources (e.g., third-party banking institutions, investment institutions) and/or from the user interface. For example, a deferral optimization module generates an updated account projection based on changes in employer contribution formulas, maximum contribution formulas, effective tax rates, current contribution rates, account allocation, project return data, and the like.

“In certain embodiments, the GUI computer system provides basic or introductory-level services for an existing retirement account. For example, the retirement account is associated with a 401(k) or similar plan provided by an employer, and the GUI computer system provides a default user interface to employees to allow each employee to monitor performance and/or update basic data regarding the account. In addition, the GUI computer system provides an option to register for enhanced services, such as a financial advisor program that integrates other accounts and benefits of the user into a unified retirement income analysis and planning system. For users who register for the enhanced services, the GUI computer system maintains and builds upon the graphical GUI associated with the introductory-level services, adding additional functionality and features in order to provide a familiar and streamlined user experience to users who register, thus reducing barriers to user enrollment for the enhanced service level. In some such embodiments, the planning engine includes a first planning engine configured to receive calls from the GUI and provide financial projections for the basic or default service level, and a second planning engine configured to receive calls from the GUI and provide financial projections and recommendations for the enhanced service level. Alternatively, a single planning engine interfaces with the GUI for both service levels.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computing system including at least one processor, the computing system comprising: a graphical user interface (GUI) computing system configured to provide a GUI for presenting data associated with participants in a financial planning system; a first planning engine associated with a first enrolment level and accessible by the GUI computing system by a first application programming interface (API); and a second planning engine associated with a second enrolment level and accessible by the GUI computing system by a second API, wherein the GUI computing system is further configured to communicate with a database storing participant profiles for a plurality of participants, each participant having a respective financial account, each of the participant profiles including first values for a salary field, an expected-time-of-retirement field, a participant goal field, at least one investment composition field, and a savings-rate field for each respective participant, wherein the GUI computing system is programmed to display a dashboard page for a participant of the plurality of participants, the dashboard page comprising: an account-snapshot widget including a financial account identifier, a current balance of a financial account, and a first value for the savings-rate field; a recommended-estimated-income widget including a first comparison of a first estimated retirement income amount to the participant goal field of the participant, wherein the GUI computing system is programmed to: determine an enrolment level of the participant, call a planning engine of the first planning engine and the second planning engine to generate: (i) recommended values for the at least one investment composition field and the savings-rate field, based on the first values for the salary field, the expected-time-of-retirement field, and the participant goal field, and (ii) the first comparison, based on the recommended values for the at least one investment composition field and the savings-rate field and the first values for the expected-time-of-retirement field and the participant goal field, wherein the planning engine called by the GUI computing system is the first planning engine when the enrolment level of the participant is the first enrolment level and the second planning engine when the enrolment level is the second enrolment level; and a current-estimated-income widget including a second comparison of a second estimated retirement income amount to the participant goal field of the participant, wherein the GUI computer system is programmed to call the planning engine to generate the second comparison based on the first values for the salary field, the expected-time-of-retirement field, the participant goal field, the at least one investment composition field, and the savings-rate field, wherein the account-snapshot widget further, in real-time in response to determining that (a) the first value of the at least one investment composition field includes an indicator of an investment associated with a target retirement date, and (b) the target retirement date is incompatible with the first value of the expected-time-of-retirement field, generates and causes display of an alert message indicating that the participant is misusing the investment associated with the target retirement date, thereby enabling a user of the GUI to make decisions for the participant based upon the alert in real-time, and wherein the GUI computing system is further programmed to display an interactive slider in the GUI, the interactive slider configured to be movable by the participant to provide modifications to the participant profile to the GUI computing system through a corresponding API.

“2. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the dashboard page further comprises a savings link operable to open a savings rate page, wherein the savings rate page enables updating of the savings-rate field to a recommended value.

“3. The computing system according to claim 2, wherein the dashboard page further comprises an investments link operable to open an investments page, wherein the investments page enables updating of the at least one investment composition field to the recommended values.

“4. The computing system according to claim 3, wherein each of the savings rate page and the investments page further includes the recommended-estimated-income widget and the current-estimated-income widget, and wherein the GUI computer system is programmed to update the current-estimated-income widget in response to each of updating of the savings-rate field and updating of the at least one investment composition field.

“5. The computing system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one investment composition field includes a savings-type field, and wherein the GUI computer system is further programmed to: determine, using the at least one planning engine, a projected retirement income based on the first value of the savings-rate field and an assumed savings type being tax-deferred; re-determine, using the at least one planning engine, the projected retirement income based on the first value of the savings-rate field and the assumed savings type being non-tax-deferred; in response to (1) the first value of the savings-type field being one of tax-deferred and non-tax-deferred, and (2) the projected retirement income being higher for the assumed savings type being the other of tax-deferred and non-tax-deferred, include in a list of savings-option selectors a change-type selector enabling the user of the GUI to each of maintain the first value of the savings-rate field and update the savings-type field to the other of tax-deferred and non-tax-deferred; in response to at least one of (A) the recommended value for the savings-rate field differing from the first value of the savings-rate field, and (B) the recommended value for the savings-type field differing from the first value of the savings-type field, include in the list of savings-option selectors a goal-based selector enabling the user of the GUI to update the savings-rate field and the savings-type field to the recommended values; and display the list of savings-option selectors on a savings page of the GUI.

“6. The computing system according to claim 5 further programmed to: compare the first value of the savings-rate field to a maximum company-match value associated with the financial account of the participant; and in response to determining that the first value of the savings-rate field is less than the company-match value, include in the list of savings-option selectors a company-match selector enabling the user of the GUI to update the savings-rate field to the maximum company-match value.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

URL and more information on this patent, see: Hough, Sean. Graphical user interface for participants and service representatives in a financial planning system. U.S. Patent Number 11645709, filed May 21, 2019, and published online on May 9, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11645709)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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