Patent ID: 8024248

Claim:
A system for providing a user with a defined benefit within a qualified or non-qualified defined contribution plan, based on a factor that indicates the exact guaranteed minimum periodic income that the user will receive regardless of how long the user lives and the potential for an increase in the periodic income based on excess investment performance over the formula of the designated defined benefit investment options, comprising: a defined contribution module that periodically receives at least one of a sponsor contribution and a participant contribution and for accumulating value over a period of time by investing at least one of the sponsor contribution and the participant contribution or any portion(s) thereof in any number of select investment option(s), the accumulated value, or any portion(s) thereof, being capable of at least one selected from the group consisting of: being withdrawn at any time, and being paid out after a predetermined period of time, the defined contribution module constituted by a programmed computer processor which communicates with the user via a network; and wherein the selected investment options comprise any number of investment products and at least one designated defined benefit investment option module for: receiving at least one investment payment from the defined contribution module, the investment payment comprising at least one of the sponsor contribution, the participant contribution, and/or the accumulated value, or any portion(s) thereof, paying out a guaranteed minimum income payment after the accumulation period of time, the guaranteed minimum income payment being based on a retirement income factor, and increasing the income payment for life for excess performance over the factor of the designated defined benefit investment option.