Method and system for providing employer-sponsored retirement plan

The computer-implemented method for use with a computer of the type used to administer an employer-sponsored, defined contribution retirement plan having participant account balances, comprising the steps of:

• providing options to a plan participant to elect a lifetime payout funded by at least a portion of the participant's account balance, said options including an option to elect lifetime payments paid through the plan, and an option to elect lifetime payments paid through a Plan Distributed Annuity (“PDA”);
• providing funding and administration of benefit payments under the lifetime payout outside of an annuity contract during a first specified period;
• and
• using the computer:
• inputting a lifetime payout election by a participant, said election including either said election for lifetime payments paid through the plan, or for lifetime payments paid through the PDA;
• for each plan participant electing a lifetime payout, importing and storing participant data from the plan, said data including data representative of said portion of the participant's account balance funding the lifetime payout;
• creating and storing a lifetime payout record for said participant;
• using said portion of the participant's account balance, computing an amount of a periodic benefit payment under the elected lifetime payout;
• and
• if a PDA is elected by the plan participant or administrator:
• generating an instruction to withdraw said portion of the participant's account balance to purchase a PDA;
• and
• generating an instruction to modify the participant's payout record to reflect purchase of the PDA;
• and
• if a PDA is not elected:
• establishing an account within the plan for paying periodic distributions to the participant in response to the election of a lifetime payout;
• periodically retrieving the plan participant's lifetime payout record from storage;
• generating an instruction to pay the lifetime payout benefit payment from the account established within the plan;
• and
• recording the payment in the participant's lifetime payout record and re-storing said record.