Abstract:
Systems and methods are provided for providing enhanced late-life retirement income through the issuance of credits to a financial instrument. With these credits, the individuals have the potential for a higher return late in life in exchange for potential forfeiture of at least a portion of the designated account for premature death.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/041,510, filed Apr. 1, 2008, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/977,247, filed Oct. 3, 2007, both of which are fully incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The system and methods described herein generally pertain to providing a longevity benefit that can be attached to a financial instrument, such as an annuity, mutual fund or other financial asset or account. 
         [0003]    Today, with increasing life expectancies and concurrent increases in the cost of living and inflation, it is difficult to plan for longevity. For instance, in the United States, life expectancy increased dramatically in the twentieth century. Life expectancy at birth in the United States in 1900 was forty-seven (47) years. At the end of the century it was seventy-seven (77) years, an increase of sixty-four percent (64%) (or an increase of thirty (30) years). Similar gains have been seen throughout the world. Life expectancy in China was around thirty-five (35) years in 1950. At the century&#39;s close it had risen to around seventy-one (71) years. Life expectancy in India at mid-century was around thirty-two (32); by 2000 it had risen to sixty-four (64) years. Furthermore, because of market volatility, it is generally not possible for any particular individual to consistently or effectively allocate assets in a way to mitigate longevity volatility for that individual. 
         [0004]    Recent studies have indicated that approximately one-third of retirees are concerned about outliving their retirement savings, but sixty-one percent (61%) admitted they have not made a formal calculation of how much they can afford to spend monthly to prevent doing so. However, research has found that pre-retirees believe they will need to make their retirement savings last until an average of age eighty-three (83), yet estimates today give a healthy sixty-five (65) year-old man a thirty-four percent (34%) chance of living to at least ninety (90) and healthy women a forty-six percent (46%) chance of living to ninety (90). 
         [0005]    As long as gains in life expectancy are foreseeable and are taken into account when planning retirement, these gains should have a negligible net effect on retirement finances. Unfortunately, for any particular person, improvements in mortality and life expectancy are unknown and uncertain. In this regard, longevity risk is associated with the risk that, for any particular individual, future mortality and life expectancy outcomes turn out different than expected. Furthermore, while life expectancy may be estimated for large groups of people with some degree of accuracy, an individual may ultimately experience a life expectancy much longer or shorter than expected for the age cohort as a group. As a result of this uncertainty surrounding an individual&#39;s actual mortality, retirees who assume that they will not survive to old age run the risk of outliving their resources and being forced to reduce their standard of living at old ages or rely upon other income sources, such as family or government programs. In this context, individuals bear the full extent of the longevity risk when this risk is “uncovered.” Individuals often try to manage their finances in order to self-insure for longevity risk, but may find that late in life (e.g., after eighty-five (85) years of age), unanticipated retirement funds are needed. The fear of running out of assets late in life may have a negative emotional impact on the quality of early retirement as the individual lives with continual financial uncertainty. 
         [0006]    Financially protecting against the longevity risk of individuals is generally referred to as longevity protection, which can be very valuable and useful. Currently, the most common insured means or package, outside of the employer or government context, in which to get longevity protection, is a traditional payout annuity, but traditional annuities are not the ideal solution for all individuals. 
         [0007]    With a traditional annuity, an investor invests a portion of his or her assets and uses the annuity payment as a primary source of income. However, under this scenario, a financial risk is posed to heirs if the investor experiences a premature death without a death benefit under the annuity. Further, some traditional annuities have little liquidity. While the annuity can serve as a vehicle for protecting against longevity risk for some individuals, for others it is too limiting, especially in the early years of retirement. Without an annuity, an investor manages his or her retirement investments based on one&#39;s own estimate of life expectancy. If the investor lives longer than anticipated or has expenses greater than anticipated, the retirement assets may be prematurely exhausted or depleted without any means for obtaining additional assets at an older age. 
         [0008]    Therefore, what is needed is an alternative to traditional annuities for protecting against longevity risk that overcomes many of the challenges found in the art, some of which are described above. This alternative can come in the form of a vehicle that also allows an investor to obtain additional retirement assets should the individual survive to an advanced age. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    In various embodiments, systems and methods are described that provide an investor with additional resources to produce assets or income above the performance of a financial instrument if the investor lives to an advanced age, such as for example eighty-five (85) or ninety (90) years of age. Embodiments help protect against not having sufficient financial resources for individuals living longer than expected, while addressing some of the challenges presented in traditional annuities. Embodiments according to the present invention require a relatively small amount of capital to ensure sufficient funds to mitigate long term financial longevity risk. 
         [0010]    Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the scope of the invention. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate certain aspects of the instant invention and together with the description, serve to explain, without limitation, the principles of the invention and like reference characters used therein indicate like parts throughout the several drawings: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a system for issuing a longevity benefit in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows an exemplary schematic diagram of the receiving computer  112  according to one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary schematic diagram of the computing device  108  according to one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a process according to the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of another process according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a third process according to the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a fourth process according to the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  illustrates the steps taken when issuing a longevity benefit according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0020]      FIGS. 9A and 9B  illustrate growth of an investment with the longevity benefit— FIG. 9A  illustrates the growth with credits in tabular form, and  FIG. 9B  illustrates the growth in graphical form. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    The embodiments described herein may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description and the examples included therein and to the figures and their previous and following description. 
         [0022]    Before the present systems, articles, devices, and/or methods are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to specific systems, specific devices, or to particular methodology, as such may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. 
         [0023]    The following description is provided as an enabling teaching of the invention in its best, currently known embodiments. To this end, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize and appreciate that many changes can be made to the various aspects of the invention described herein, while still obtaining the beneficial results of the present invention. It will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present invention can be obtained by selecting some of the features of the present invention without utilizing other features. Accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize that many modifications and adaptations to the present invention are possible and can even be desirable in certain circumstances and are a part of the present invention. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present invention and not in limitation thereof. 
         [0024]    As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a reflector” includes two or more such reflectors, and the like. 
         [0025]    Ranges can be expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent “about,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint. It is also understood that there are a number of values disclosed herein, and that each value is also herein disclosed as “about” that particular value in addition to the value itself. For example, if the value “10” is disclosed, then “about 10” is also disclosed. It is also understood that when a value is disclosed that “less than or equal to” the value, “greater than or equal to the value” and possible ranges between values are also disclosed, as appropriately understood by the skilled artisan. For example, if the value “10” is disclosed the “less than or equal to 10” as well as the “greater than or equal to 10” is also disclosed. It is also understood that throughout the application, data is provided in a number of different formats and that this data represents endpoints and starting points, and ranges for any combination of the data points. For example, if a particular data point “10” and a particular data point “15” are disclosed, it is understood that greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, less than or equal to, and equal to 10 and 15 are considered disclosed as well as between 10 and 15. It is also understood that each unit between two particular units are also disclosed. For example, if 10 and 15 are disclosed, then 11, 12, 13, and 14 are also disclosed. 
         [0026]    “Optional” or “optionally” means that the subsequently described event or circumstance may or may not occur, and that the description includes instances where said event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not. 
         [0027]    “Exemplary,” where used herein, means “an example of” and is not intended to convey a preferred or ideal embodiment. Further, the phrase “such as” as used herein is not intended to be restrictive in any sense, but is merely explanatory and is used to indicate that the recited items are just examples of what is covered by that provision. 
         [0028]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments can comprise a method, a data processing system, or a computer program product. Accordingly, the aspects described herein can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, aspects described herein can take the form of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions (e.g., computer software) embodied in the storage medium. More particularly, aspects can take the form of web-implemented computer software. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices. 
         [0029]    Embodiments are described below with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatuses (i.e., systems) and computer program products. It is to be appreciated that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create a means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. 
         [0030]    These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including computer-readable instructions for implementing the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. 
         [0031]    Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
       Overview 
       [0032]    Embodiments described herein provide an investor with an option that overcomes many of the financial disadvantages associated with the risk of outliving retirement assets. Accordingly, in one aspect an investor designates some portion of his or her assets to have a longevity benefit. In one aspect, these assets are liquidated and the proceeds are invested in an annuity with particular longevity features. In another aspect, the designated assets are placed in a specially noted account to which a financial institution (including an insurance company) has access for deposits and has a right to survivorship. It is to be appreciated, however, that to practice aspects according to the present invention, the assets do not require physical placement into a secure account and may be designated as all or a portion of an investor&#39;s existing account. The assets can generally be invested in a traditional investment product, such as mutual funds, managed accounts, stocks, bonds, insurance, etc. 
         [0033]    In an aspect, when the longevity benefit is elected, the investor selects a deferral period, which ends at an advanced age of the investor&#39;s choice, typically eighty to ninety (80-90) years of age. During the deferral period, while the investor is alive, a credit is periodically applied to the underlying assets or account value designated under the longevity benefit. In one aspect, the credit can be a set amount of money added to the account that can be invested pursuant to the plans of the investor, though other forms of a credit are contemplated within the scope of the invention, such as a percentage multiplier of the underlying assets, etc. In one aspect, the credit increases with age. For example, the credit could be a percentage of the account balance that escalates over the deferral period. The credits could occur annually, semi-annually, monthly, every five (5) years, or any other periodic basis or portion of the deferral period. At the end of the deferral period, and if the investor is still alive, the account balance will be substantially greater than it would have been if invested without the longevity benefit. This is because of the credit increase to the account value and the investment return on the additional credited monies. In another aspect, there may be two (2) investors, where only one (1) investor needs to be alive at the end of the deferral period in order to receive benefits. In exchange for the added credit, the account balance or a portion of the account balance is not accessible during the deferral period and the account balance or a portion of it is payable over to the financial institution upon death of the investor if it occurs before the end of the deferral period. 
         [0034]    At the end of the deferral period, the investor has the option of electing an additional deferral period; taking the entire account balance, or any portion of it, as a lump sum withdrawal; begin taking systematic withdrawals from the account, including maintaining the flexibility to transfer remaining assets, start and stop income, or cash out at a later date; or to purchase an immediate or deferred annuity with the amount. In one aspect, the longevity benefit may be taxed as an equity investment and in a different aspect, the benefit may be taxed as an annuity. In one aspect, there may be a guarantee as to a minimum account balance at the end of the deferral period or a minimum income amount that can be received on a periodic basis after the deferral period has ended. 
         [0035]    Advantages of the longevity benefit include an investor having to allocate only a relatively small portion of their assets to the longevity benefit while having the remaining assets freely available for current retirement expenses; and reduced anxiety about out-living retirement savings. Table I, below, compares the longevity benefit to traditional payout annuities. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE I 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Life-Contingent Payout Annuities 
                 Longevity Benefit 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Investor typically invests a large portion of 
                 Investor is designating only a small 
               
               
                 his or her assets and uses the periodic 
                 portion of his or her assets, while the other 
               
               
                 payments as the primary source of income 
                 retirement assets are managed separately 
               
               
                   
                 by the investor 
               
               
                 Payments begin within one year of 
                 Payments begin only at the advanced age 
               
               
                 purchase, even though the investor may not 
                 selected by the investor 
               
               
                 need the annuity payouts at that time 
               
               
                 If a fixed annuity, investor&#39;s money gets 
                 Investor get to choose his or her 
               
               
                 invested in the insurance company&#39;s 
                 underlying investment strategy to the 
               
               
                 general account 
                 extent permitted by law 
               
               
                 If an annuity, fees are assessed against the 
                 The fees assessed, if any, are currently 
               
               
                 investor&#39;s underlying funds 
                 designed to be minimal 
               
               
                 For a fixed annuity, tends to be a “black 
                 Provides transparency to the investor 
               
               
                 box” from the investor&#39;s standpoint 
               
               
                 Investor&#39;s heirs may or may not be entitled 
                 In exchange for protection under the 
               
               
                 to a benefit upon the premature death of 
                 longevity benefit, investor is taking the 
               
               
                 the investor. The existence of a death 
                 risk of dying early, with no or limited 
               
               
                 benefit acts to reduce the lifetime benefits 
                 amounts (including original investment) 
               
               
                 available under the contract 
                 payable to heirs should the investor die 
               
               
                   
                 before the end of the deferral period 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Provides protection against the investor outliving their assets 
               
             
          
         
       
     
       System for Issuing and Administering a Longevity Benefit 
     System Architecture 
       [0036]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a system for issuing a longevity benefit  102  in accordance with various embodiments described herein. As may be understood from this figure, the system  100  can include a prospective investor  104  in contact with a representative from the issuer of the longevity benefit  106  having access to a computing device  108 , into which the representative  106  can enter participant data received from the prospective investor  104  or other sources regarding the longevity benefit. As can be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the computing device  108  can be any type of computing device, including, for example, a mobile telephone, personal data assistant (PDA), laptop or mobile personal computer (PC), desktop unit, or workstation. 
         [0037]    The system further includes an office  110  in communication with the computing device  108 , and a receiving computer  112  in communication with the office  110 . The office  110 , which may be operated directly by the receiving company or by some other entity affiliated with the receiving company, includes at least an interface  114  to facilitate the communication of applicant data between the computing device  108  and the receiving company computer  112 . The interface  114  can be any known interface including, for example, a docking station that is connected to an IT infrastructure, such as a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet. Data can, therefore, be communicated from the office  110  to the receiving company computer  112  via any known means of communicating data including, for example, via the Internet, via a cable connection, by fax, via a telephone network, or even by a human operator located at the office  110 . 
         [0038]    Alternatively, the computing device  108  can be configured to communicate with the receiving company computer  112  directly without the need for an office  110  and the interface  114 . The computing device  108  can communicate with the receiving company computer  112  via a communications network such as the Internet, WAN, one or more LANs, wireless network, cellular network, etc. 
         [0039]    The receiving company computer  112  includes at least a longevity benefit module  116 . The module  116  can be configured to retrieve data from, and store data to, one or more databases  118 . As shown, benefit data  120 , which can include data about the longevity benefit, applicant data  122  and business rules  124  can each be stored in the database  118  and accessed by the longevity benefit module  116 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 2  shows an exemplary schematic diagram of the receiving computer  112  that can be used to practice various aspects as described herein. The receiving computer  112  includes a processor  202  that communicates with other elements within the receiving computer  112  via a system interface or bus  204 . The processor  202  could be, for example, a central processing unit, microprocessor, microcontroller, programmable gate array, or some other device that processes data. Also included in the receiving computer  112  is a display device/input device  206  for receiving and displaying data. The unit  206  can include, for example, an input device such as a keyboard, mouse or pointing device, and a display device such as a monitor, cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), or other such device. The receiving computer  112  further includes a memory  208 , which includes both random access memory (RAM)  210  and read only memory (ROM)  212 . The computer&#39;s ROM  212  is used to store a basic input/output system  214  (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the receiving computer  112 . The computer&#39;s RAM  210  is used to store the benefit data  120 , applicant data  122  and business rules  124 . 
         [0041]    In addition, the receiving computer  112  can include at least one storage device  216 , such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, or optical disk drive, for storing information on various computer-readable media, such as a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, or a CD-ROM disk. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, each of these storage devices  216  is connected to the system bus  204  by an appropriate interface. The storage devices  216  and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage for a personal computer. It is to be appreciated that the computer-readable media described above could be replaced by any other type of computer-readable media known in the art. Such media include, for example, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, Bernoulli cartridges, etc. 
         [0042]    A number of program modules may be stored by the various storage devices  216  and within RAM  210 . Such program modules include an operating system  218 , and the longevity benefit module  116 . The longevity benefit module  116  controls certain aspects of the operation of the receiving computer  112 , as is described in more detail below, with the assistance of the processor  202  and the operating system  218 . 
         [0043]    Also located within the receiving computer  112  is a network interface  220 , for interfacing and communicating with other elements of a computer network. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that one or more of the receiving computer  112  components may be located geographically remotely from other receiving computer  112  components. Furthermore, one or more of the components may be combined, and additional components performing functions described herein may be included in the receiving computer  112 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary schematic diagram of the computing device  108  that can be used to practice various aspects, as described herein. The computing device can be used by the prospective investor  104  or the representative  106 , or both, to receive applicant data and to transfer the same to the receiving computer  112 . The elements of the computing device  108  shown in  FIG. 3  are the same or similar to corresponding elements of the receiving computer  112  shown in  FIG. 2 , with a few exceptions. In particular, the computing device  108  includes a processor  302  that communicates with other elements within the computing device  108  via a system interface or bus  304 , a display device/input device  306  for receiving and displaying data, a memory  308 , which includes both random access memory (RAM)  310  and read only memory (ROM)  312 , wherein the ROM  312  is used to store a basic input/output system  314  (BIOS) and the RAM  312  is used to at least temporarily store benefit data  120  and applicant data  122 , at least one storage device  316 , and a network interface  318 , for interfacing and communicating with other elements of a computer network. 
         [0045]    Like the receiving computer  112 , a number of program modules can be stored by the various storage devices  316  and within RAM  308 . Such program modules include an operating system  320 , and an applicant data processing module  322 . The applicant data processing module  322  controls certain aspects of the operation of the computing device  108 , as is described in more detail below, with the assistance of the processor  302  and the operating system  320 . 
       Method of Administering a Longevity Benefit 
       [0046]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a process that can be implemented and carried out on one or more computing devices. At step  400 , an allocation of investment assets toward a longevity benefit are liquidated and the proceeds are invested in an annuity. Information about the annuity can be designated in a memory associated with a computing device. At step  402 , a deferral period is defined for the longevity benefit. For example, a sixty-five (65) year old investor may desire a deferral period of twenty (20) years, so that the investor will have funds available at age eighty-five (85) if he or she survives to that age. Other deferral periods may be available and may be as short as one (1) year and as long as fifty (50) years. At step  404 , a survivorship credit is applied to the allocated assets during the deferral period. The credit is above and beyond the investment return on the allocated assets from the underlying assets. For example, the credit can be a percentage of the allocated assets, or could even be a lump sum contributed to the allocated assets on a periodic or one-time basis during the deferral period. In one instance, for example, the credit increases each year of the deferral period. As an example, assume that the underlying investment allocated to the longevity benefit earns a 10 percent annualized return—the credit could be an additional one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) in addition to the ten percent (10%) annualized return. In one aspect, the credit can escalate each year of the deferral period (e.g., one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) the first year, two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) the second year, three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) the third year, etc.). At step  406 , the accumulated assets, which include the annuity purchased with the initially allocated assets plus (or minus) any investment growth (or losses), plus the credit growth of the investment are made available to the investor. As previously described herein, the investor can receive these funds as a lump sum, a partial lump sum, on a periodic basis, as a payout annuity, etc. 
         [0047]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of another process that can be implemented and carried out on one or more computing devices. At step  500 , there is an allocation of investment assets toward a longevity benefit. The longevity benefit structure can be designated in a memory associated with a computing device. At step  502 , a deferral period is defined for the longevity benefit. At step  504 , an initial survivorship credit is defined for the allocated assets to be applied during the first year (or initial sub-period) of the deferral period. As previously described, the credit is above and beyond the investment return on the allocated assets from the underlying assets. At step  506 , the credit is applied to the allocated assets and any ensuing growth (or loss) of the accumulated assets. At step  508 , the deferral period is decremented. In other words, one (1) year has passed or one (1) sub-period (does not necessarily have to be a year) has passed. At step  510 , it is determined whether the remaining deferral period is greater than zero (0), subsequent to the decrement of step  508 . If, at step  510 , the deferral period is still greater than zero (0), then at step  512  the credit is refreshed. This can involve, for example, increasing the credit, decreasing the credit, or maintaining the credit at its current level. At step  514 , it is determined whether the investor is still alive. This can be determined, for example, by an input to a computing device recorded in a memory, or by a computer search of records such as death records. If, at step  514  it is determined that the investor is still alive, then the process returns to step  506 , where the credit is applied to the allocated assets and any ensuing growth (or loss) of the accumulated assets. 
         [0048]    Returning to step  510 , if it is determined that the deferral period is not greater than zero (0) (after being decremented at step  508 ), then the process goes to step  516 , where the accumulated assets, which include the initially allocated assets plus (or minus) any investment growth (or losses), plus the credit growth of the investment are made available to the investor. The process then ends at step  520 . 
         [0049]    Returning to step  514 , if it is determined that the investor is no longer alive (and the deferral period has not expired), then at step  518  all or part of the allocated assets plus any investment growth (or less any losses) plus all or parts of the credits are forfeited to an administrator of the longevity benefit. This forfeiture generally funds the operation of the longevity benefit and the survivorship credits that are applied. The process then ends at step  520 . 
         [0050]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a process that can be implemented and carried out on one or more computing devices such as those described in  FIGS. 1-3 . At step  600 , an allocation of investment assets is designated toward a longevity benefit. The designation can be the transfer of assets to a distinct account, or designation of a portion of the assets of a new or existing account toward the longevity benefit. The designation of the assets, such as account number, account value, etc. can be stored in a memory associated with a computing device. At step  602 , a deferral period is defined for the longevity benefit. For example, a 65 year old investor may desire a deferral period of twenty (20) years, so that the investor will have funds available at age eighty-five (85) if he or she survives to that age. Other deferral periods may be available and may be as short as one (1) year and as long as, for example, fifty (50) years. At step  604 , a credit is applied to the allocated assets during the deferral period. The credit is above and beyond the investment return on the allocated assets from the underlying assets. For example, the credit can be a percentage of the allocated assets, or could even be a lump sum contributed to the allocated assets on a periodic or one-time basis during the deferral period. In one instance, for example, the credit increases each year of the deferral period. As an example, assume that the underlying investment allocated to the longevity benefit earns a ten percent (10%) annualized return—the credit could be an additional one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) in addition to the ten percent (10%) annualized return. In one aspect, the credit can escalate each year of the deferral period (e.g., one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) the first year, two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) the second year, three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) the third year, etc.). At step  606 , at the end of the deferral period the accumulated assets, which include the initially allocated assets plus (or minus) any investment growth (or losses), plus the credit growth of the investment are made available to the investor. As previously described herein, the investor can receive these funds as a lump sum, a partial lump sum, on a periodic basis, as a payout annuity, etc. 
         [0051]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of another process that can be implemented and carried out on one or more computing devices such as those shown and described in relation to  FIGS. 1-3 . At step  700 , an allocation of investment assets is designated toward a longevity benefit. The designation can be the transfer of assets to a distinct account, or designation of a portion of the assets of a new or existing account toward the longevity benefit. The designation of the assets, such as account number, account value, etc. can be stored in a memory associated with a computing device. At step  702 , a deferral period is defined for the longevity benefit. At step  704 , an initial credit is defined for the allocated assets to be applied during the first year (or initial sub-period) of the deferral period. As previously described, the credit is above and beyond the investment return on the allocated assets from the underlying assets. At step  706 , the credit is applied to the allocated assets and any ensuing growth (or loss) of the accumulated assets. At step  708 , the deferral period is decremented. In other words, one (1) year has passed or one (1) sub-period (does not necessarily have to be a year) has passed. At step  710 , it is determined whether the remaining deferral period is greater than zero (0), subsequent to the decrement of step  708 . If, at step  710 , the deferral period is still greater than zero (0), then at step  712  the credit is refreshed. This can involve, for example, increasing the credit, decreasing the credit, or maintaining the credit at its current level. At step  714 , it is determined whether the investor is still alive. This can be determined, for example, by an input to a computing device recorded in a memory, or by a computer search of records such as death records. If, at step  714  it is determined that the investor is still alive, then the process returns to step  706 , where the credit is applied to the allocated assets and any ensuing growth (or loss) of the accumulated assets. 
         [0052]    Returning to step  710 , if it is determined that the deferral period is not greater than zero (0) (after being decremented at step  708 ), then the process goes to step  716 , where the accumulated assets, which include the initially allocated assets plus (or minus) any investment growth (or losses), plus the credit growth of the investment are made available to the investor. The process then ends at step  720 . 
         [0053]    Returning to step  714 , if it is determined that the investor is no longer alive (and the deferral period has not expired), then at step  718  all or part of the allocated assets plus any investment growth (or less any losses) plus all or parts of the credits are forfeited to an administrator of the longevity benefit. This forfeiture generally funds the operation of the longevity benefit and the survivorship credits that are applied. The process then ends at step  720 . 
         [0054]      FIG. 8  illustrates the steps taken when issuing a longevity benefit according to one embodiment. As shown, in one embodiment the process of issuing a longevity benefit begins at step  802  in which a representative of the longevity benefit issuer collects applicant data  322  from a prospective investor and enters it into his or her computing device  308 . In step  804 , the applicant data  322  is transmitted from the computing device  308  to the receiving computer  312  using the application data processing module  322  on the computing device  308 . The applicant data collected may include, for example, the information used to determine applicant&#39;s eligibility for the longevity benefit, which can include prospective investor&#39;s name, age, address or medical history, information about current investments, financial status, insurance coverage owned by the prospective policy participant, etc. 
         [0055]    In other embodiments, the process could likewise begin with a prospective investor entering his or her own applicant data directly into an application form provided by the receiving company, and sending the application form to the receiving company. The application form could be in hard copy, requiring, for example, that the prospective investor enter the applicant data by hand, and then mail or fax the form to the receiving company. The applicant data could then be entered into the receiving computer  312  by, for example, a receiving company employee. 
         [0056]    Alternatively, the application form could be provided over the Internet on a website operated by the receiving company, or by some other company affiliated with the receiving company. In this case, the prospective investor could merely enter the data into the online version of the application form and then send the data electronically to the receiving computer  312 . In yet another embodiment, the prospective investor may contact a receiving company operator directly, by telephone or by other means, and communicate the applicant data to the operator, the data is then entered into the receiving computer  312  by the operator or another associated individual. 
         [0057]    Once the receiving computer  312  has received the applicant data  322  in step  606 , the receiving computer  312  stores the applicant data  322  in a database  318  on the receiving computer  312 . The longevity benefit module  316  then applies business rules  324 , which are also stored in the database  318  on the receiving computer  312 , to the applicant data  322  to calculate the economic value of the longevity benefit based on one or more proposed investment amounts, deferral periods, and tax status, and to determine whether the prospective policy participant qualifies for the longevity benefit (step  808 ). This may include, for example, checking the applicant&#39;s name and address to determine whether they are valid, authenticating the applicant to ensure that the applicant is who he/she claims to be, determining whether the applicant is financially responsible based on a credit or payment history check, determining the applicant&#39;s medical history, determining parameters of the any underlying investment vehicle, determining whether the applicant is of legal age to enter a binding contract in the state in which a policy is sought, etc. 
         [0058]    If the receiving computer  312  determines that the applicant is not qualified for the longevity benefit based on the applicant data  322  and business rules  324 , then the receiving computer  312  rejects the application. Conversely, upon a determination by the receiving computer  312  that the prospective investor qualifies for the longevity benefit, in step  810  the receiving company issues the longevity benefit to the investor by, for example, generating benefit data  320  that is specific to the prospective investor including the allocated investments and amounts, deferral period, etc., storing the longevity benefit data  320  in the database  318 , and transmitting the longevity benefit data  320  to the investor. The benefit data  320  can be sent, for example, electronically, by mail, by fax or delivered by hand, to the investor directly, or via the issuer&#39;s account representative. 
       Longevity Benefit Examples 
       [0059]    For example, a male investor, age sixty-five (65), is worried about living past or well beyond age eighty-five (85) (and out-living his retirement assets). He elects to designate a portion of his assets to contain a longevity benefit, as described herein. The investor chooses a deferral period of twenty (20) years (because he is concerned about having sufficient assets should he live past age eighty-five (85)). At the end of the deferral period, there is significantly greater growth in the investment with the longevity benefit, than without it (even when taxes are considered). As an example, depending upon the credit applied, assuming a return of eight percent (8%) on the underlying assets, the investor could have as much as twenty to sixty percent (20-60%) greater growth by age eighty-five (85). If the client had instead selected a deferral period of twenty-five (25) years, there could greater growth of as much as sixty to one-hundred percent (60-100%) by age ninety (90). 
         [0060]    These values can be demonstrated using the following formulas: 
         [0000]      Without Benefit:  AV   t   =AV   t−1 ×(1+ I   t ) 
         [0000]      With Benefit:  AV   t   =AV   t−1 ×(1+ I   t )×(1 +C   t ) 
         [0061]    Where:
       t=time period   AV t =Account Balance at time t (at the beginning, this is equal to the allocated assets)   I t =investment growth of the underlying assets over the preceding time period (net of fees and taxes, if any)   C t =credit at time t expressed as a percentage       
 
         [0066]    The growth of the investment with the longevity benefit is further illustrated in  FIGS. 9A and 9B , using the same assumptions described above for the male investor, age sixty-five (65), and an assumed initial allocation of one-hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).  FIG. 9A  illustrates the growth with the credits in tabular form, and  FIG. 9B  illustrates the growth in graphical form. In this example and as shown in  FIG. 9A , the credit started off at six-tenths of one percent (0.6%) and increased on an annual basis by approximately fifteen-hundredths of one percent (0.15%). Other credit values are contemplated within the scope of this invention, as well as a credit that comprises a periodic contribution (i.e., not a percentage) to the investment. 
       Modifications and Alternative Embodiments 
       [0067]    Although several aspects of the present invention have been disclosed in the foregoing specification, it is understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and other aspects of the invention will come to mind to which the invention pertains, having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. It is thus understood that the invention is not limited to the specific aspects disclosed hereinabove, and that many modifications and other aspects are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although specific terms are employed herein, as well as in the claims which follow, they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense, and not for the purposes of limiting the described invention.