Patent ID: 7756771

Claim:
A method for determining an earnings portion of a distribution from a 529 plan, the method comprising: receiving information associated with a plurality of active 529 plan accounts, wherein receiving information includes receiving the following for each 529 plan account: a fair market value; a value for life-to-date contributions; and a value for life-to-date return of investment; identifying, using a computing device comprising at least one processor, related 529 plan accounts, wherein identifying related 529 plan accounts includes identifying 529 plan accounts having a common beneficiary or having a common beneficiary and owner; aggregating, using the computing device, the information for related 529 plan accounts; and determining an earnings portion of a distribution from at least one of the 529 plan accounts based on the following equation: EP = MV - ( C - ROI ) × D MV where EP equals the earnings portion, MV equals an aggregate market value, C equals an aggregate value of contributions, ROI equals an aggregate value of return of investment, and D equals the distribution amount.