Financial Instrument Transferable from an Employer to an Employee

1 . A method for administering a financial instrument, the method comprising:

storing a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee;

storing a minimum positive growth rate;

updating the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments;

calculating, by one or more processor devices executing logic, a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and

upon occurrence of one or more events, transferring ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary's choice of either:

a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, or

for the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the employer comprises a corporation or a corporate sponsored trust.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the employee retirement plan account comprises a variable annuity.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, during a time when the employer owns the employee retirement plan account, a selection of the one or more variable investments from the employee; and

storing, in the employee retirement plan account, the one or more variable investments selected by the employee.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising, in response to a determination that the market performance of the one or more variable investments selected by the employee has caused the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account to decrease below a threshold:

removing, from the employee retirement plan account, at least one of the one or more variable investments selected by the employee;

storing, in the employee retirement plan account, one or more supplemental variable investments selected by a different entity; and

further updating the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the remaining one or more variable investments selected by the employee and market performance of the one or more supplemental variable investments selected by the different entity.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more events includes retirement of the employee from working for the employer or termination of the employee from working for the employer.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the deduction from the wages paid by the employer to the employee comprises a pre-tax deduction from the wages paid by the employer to the employee.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to a determination that the market performance of the one or more variable investments has caused the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account to increase above the calculated protected value, updating the calculated protected value to be at least the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate.

9 . A data processing system, comprising:

one or more processing modules; and

one or more memory devices storing:

a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee;

a minimum positive growth rate; and

software configured, when executed by the one or more processing modules, to:

update the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments;

calculate a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and

upon occurrence of one or more events, transfer ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary's choice of either:

a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, or

for the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the employer comprises a corporation or a corporate sponsored trust.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the employee retirement plan account comprises a variable annuity.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the software is further configured, when executed by the one or more processing modules, to:

receive, during a time when the employer owns the employee retirement plan account, a selection of the one or more variable investments from the employee; and

store, in the employee retirement plan account, the one or more variable investments selected by the employee.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein in response to a determination that the market performance of the one or more variable investments selected by the employee has caused the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account to decrease below a threshold, the software is further configured, when executed by the one or more processing modules, to:

remove, from the employee retirement plan account, at least one of the one or more variable investments selected by the employee;

store, in the employee retirement plan account, one or more supplemental variable investments selected by a different entity; and

further update the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the remaining one or more variable investments selected by the employee and market performance of the one or more supplemental variable investments selected by the different entity.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more events includes retirement of the employee from working for the employer or termination of the employee from working for the employer.

15 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the deduction from the wages paid by the employer to the employee comprises a pre-tax deduction from the wages paid by the employer to the employee.

16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein in response to a determination that the market performance of the one or more variable investments has caused the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account to increase above the calculated protected value, the software is further configured, when executed by the one or more processing modules, to update the calculated protected value to be at least the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate.

17 . A tangible medium encoded with software, the software configured, when executed by one or more processing modules, to:

store a balance of an employee retirement plan account created for an employee and owned by an employer of the employee, the employee retirement plan account comprising one or more variable investments, the balance of the employee retirement plan account being based, at least in part, on an initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account from a deduction from wages paid by the employer to the employee;

store a minimum positive growth rate;

update the stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the one or more variable investments;

calculate a protected value, the calculated protected value being at least equal to the initial deposit into the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate, wherein the calculated protected value represents a guaranteed positive rate of return regardless of market performance of the one or more investments; and

upon occurrence of one or more events, transfer ownership of the employee retirement plan account from the employer to the employee, wherein subsequent to or simultaneous to the transfer of ownership, a beneficiary designated by the employee is guaranteed to receive the beneficiary's choice of either:

a lump sum of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account, or

for the life of the employee or the beneficiary, periodic payments of an amount of money from the employee retirement plan account based on the calculated protected value regardless of the market performance of the one or more investments.

18 . The tangible medium of claim 17 , wherein the employer comprises a corporation or a corporate sponsored trust.

19 . The tangible medium of claim 18 , wherein the employee retirement plan account comprises a variable annuity.

20 . The tangible medium of claim 17 , wherein the software is further configured, when executed by one or more processing modules, to:

receive, during a time when the employer owns the employee retirement plan account, a selection of the one or more variable investments from the employee; and

store, in the employee retirement plan account, the one or more variable investments selected by the employee.

21 . The tangible medium of claim 20 , wherein in response to a determination that the market performance of the one or more variable investments selected by the employee has caused the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account to decrease below a threshold, the software is further configured, when executed by one or more processing modules, to:

remove, from the employee retirement plan account, at least one of the one or more variable investments selected by the employee;

store, in the employee retirement plan account, one or more supplemental variable investments selected by a different entity; and

further update the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account based on market performance of the remaining one or more variable investments selected by the employee and market performance of the one or more supplemental variable investments selected by the different entity.

22 . The tangible medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more events includes retirement of the employee from working for the employer or termination of the employee from working for the employer.

23 . The tangible medium of claim 17 , wherein the deduction from the wages paid by the employer to the employee comprises a pre-tax deduction from the wages paid by the employer to the employee.

24 . The tangible medium of claim 17 , wherein in response to a determination that the market performance of the one or more variable investments has caused the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account to increase above the calculated protected value, the software is further configured, when executed by one or more processing modules, to update the calculated protected value to be at least the updated stored balance of the employee retirement plan account growing at the stored minimum positive growth rate.