User Interface for a financial advisory system that allows an end user to interactively explore tradeoffs among input decisions

A method comprising:

• receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• receiving input decisions that relate to tradeoffs in connection wit pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor and tat is constrained to be within a feasible set of risk that is attainable by a particular investor via a set of financial products that are available to the particular investor for investment, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor;
• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of the set of financial products and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• determining a recommended portfolio of one or more financial products from the set of financial products that are available to the particular investor for investment based upon the input decisions;
• determining the probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal based upon a probability distribution representing a set of possible future portfolio values of the recommended portfolio upon expiration of the time horizon by evaluating the cumulative probability tat meets or exceeds the financial goal;
• and
• providing feedback regarding the likelihood of achieving the financial goal in view of the input decisions by causing to be displayed within a user interface screen an indication of the probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal in response to receipt of the input decisions.

A method comprising:

• receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of a set of financial products that are available to the particular investor and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• and
• allowing an end user to interactively explore tradeoffs among time, savings, and risk and their impact on a probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal by
• displaying one or more input objects in a first portion of a user interface screen, the one or more input objects being constrained to receive feasible input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk tat is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor;
• determining a recommended portfolio of one or more financial products from the set of financial products based upon the input decisions;
• and
• displaying a set of output values in a second portion of the user interface screen, the set of output values comprising an indication of the probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal based upon the recommended portfolio, the relationship and the time horizon.

A method comprising:

• one or more computer systems determining a recommended allocation of wealth among a set of financial products that are available for investment by a particular investor, the set of financial products comprising one or more mutual funds;
• the one or more computer systems identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of the set of financial products and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• said determining a recommended allocation of wealth being based upon (a) a financial goal identified by the particular investor, and (b) input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, to input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings tat is acceptable to the particular investor;
• and
• the one or more computer systems graphically depicting the recommended allocation of wealth among the one or more financial products of the set of available financial products.

A method comprising:

• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of a set of financial products that are available to a particular investor for investment and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect tote set of factor asset classes;
• receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• displaying a set of one or more input objects to receive input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings tat is acceptable to the particular investor;
• determining expected returns and volatility of returns for each of a plurality of efficient portfolios based upon the relationship and the input decisions, each of the plurality of efficient portfolios including a combination of one or more of the financial products from the set of financial products;
• identifying a recommended portfolio of the plurality of efficient portfolios by selecting an efficient portfolio of the plurality of efficient portfolios flint maximizes an expected utility of wealth for the particular investor;
• and
• causing to be displayed within a user interface screen a representation of the recommended portfolio by graphically depicting relative allocations of wealth among those of the financial products of the set of financial products included in the recommended portfolio.

A method comprising:

• a step fir identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of a set of financial products that are available to a particular investor for investment and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• a step for receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• a step for causing to be displayed within a user interface screen a set of one or more input objects to receive input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor;
• a step for determining expected returns and volatility of returns for each of a plurality of efficient portfolios based upon the relationship and the input decisions, each of the plurality of efficient portfolios including a combination of one or more of the financial products from the set of financial products;
• a step for identifying a recommended portfolio of the plurality of efficient portfolios by selecting an efficient portfolio of the plurality of efficient portfolios that maximizes an expected utility of wealth for the particular investor;
• and
• a step for displaying a representation of the recommended portfolio by graphically depicting relative allocations of wealth among those of the financial products of the set of financial products included in the recommended portfolio.

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• receiving an indication of a retirement income goal for a particular investor;
• displaying a set of input objects within a user interface screen, the set of input objects to receive input decisions including at least:
• an indication of a target retirement age for the particular investor, and
• an indication of a target level of investment risk for the particular investor that is constrained to be within a feasible set of risk that is attainable by the particular investor via a set of financial products that are available to the particular investor for investment;
• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of the set of financial products and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• and
• displaying a set of output values within the user interface screen, the set of output values including at least:
• an indication of the probability of achieving the retirement income goal, and
• an indication of the most likely retirement income in current dollars based upon the retirement income goal, the input decisions, and a recommended allocation of wealth among one or more financial products of the set of financial products that are available to the particular investor for investment.

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• receiving input decisions that relate to tradeoffs in connection with pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor and that is constrained to be within a feasible set of risk that is attainable by a particular investor via a set of financial products that are available to the particular investor for investment, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor,
• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of the set of financial products and fixture returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• determining a recommended portfolio of one or more financial products from the set of financial products that are available to the particular investor for investment based upon the input decisions;
• determining the probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal based upon a probability distribution representing a set of possible future portfolio values of the recommended portfolio upon expiration of the time horizon by evaluating the cumulative probability that meets or exceeds the financial goal;
• and
• providing feedback regarding the likelihood of achieving the financial goal in view of the input decisions by displaying an indication of the probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal in response to receipt of the input decisions.

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of a set of financial products that are available to the particular investor and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• and
• allowing an end user to interactively explore tradeoffs among time, savings, and risk and their impact on a probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal by
• displaying one or more input objects in a first portion of a user interface screen, the one or more input objects being constrained to receive feasible input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor;
• determining a recommended portfolio of one or more financial products from the set of financial products based upon the input decisions;
• and
• displaying a set of output values in a second portion of the user interface screen, the set of output values comprising an indication of the probability of the particular investor achieving the financial goal based upon the recommended portfolio, the relationship and the time horizon.

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• determining a recommended allocation of wealth among a set of financial products that are available for investment by a particular investor, the set of financial products comprising one or more mutual finds;
• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of the set of financial products and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• said determining a recommended allocation of wealth being based upon (a) a financial goal identified by the particular investor, and (b) input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor;
• and
• graphically depicting the recommended allocation of wealth among the one or more financial products of the set of available financial products.

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• identifying a relationship between future returns of each financial product of a set of financial products that are available to a particular investor for investment and future returns of combinations of one or more factor asset classes of a set of factor asset classes by determining each financial product's effective asset mix with respect to the set of factor asset classes;
• receiving an indication of a financial goal of a particular investor;
• displaying a set of one or more input objects to receive input decisions relating to variables involved in pursuing the financial goal, the input decisions comprising an indication of a time horizon that is acceptable to the particular investor, an indication of a level of investment risk that is acceptable to the particular investor, and an indication of a level of savings that is acceptable to the particular investor;
• determining expected returns and volatility of returns for each of a plurality of efficient portfolios based upon the relationship and the input decisions, each of the plurality of efficient portfolios including a combination of one or more of the financial products from the set of financial products;
• identifying a recommended portfolio of the plurality of efficient portfolios by selecting an efficient portfolio of the plurality of efficient portfolios that maximizes an expected utility of wealth for the particular investor;
• and
• displaying a representation of the recommended portfolio by graphically depicting relative allocations of wealth among those of the financial products of the set of financial products included in the recommended portfolio.