Patent ID: 7848939

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for ensuring valid participation of a plan participant in a defined contribution pension plan, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a pension debt mitigation coverage in response to a requirement for life insurance covering a balance of a loan from a retirement account of the plan participant, wherein the debt mitigation coverage comprises an insurance policy or debt cancellation coverage; wherein the debt mitigation coverage protects assets in the retirement account of the plan participant in the defined contribution pension plan from unnecessary dissipation from default due to a known exposure inherent within a risk event; wherein the debt mitigation coverage is imposed as a pre-condition to making the loan; wherein the assets in the retirement account serve as collateral for the loan to the participant; and wherein the debt mitigation coverage is held for the benefit of the plan and the participant in a plan trust or by a trustee for an initial amount of the loan; creating data structure of a computer for identifying the status of the plan participant; receiving, by a computer, an election from the plan participant regarding acceptance of the debt mitigation coverage; entering into the data structure an indicator indicating whether the plan participant has a debt mitigation coverage covering the plan or whether the plan participant has not accepted the offered pension debt mitigation coverage but has separately arranged for debt mitigation coverage from an offerer not associated with the plan; configuring, by a computer, a premium of the loan based upon the indicator in the data structure; and in the occurrence of the risk event, paying to the policy holder from the plan trust the balance of the loan from the debt mitigation coverage.