Abstract: A computer-implemented method of assisting a consumer in deciding whether to prepay his/her loan comprises first determining total loan cost reduction due to the prepayment or prepayments. Second, a return on investment resulting from investing the prepayment or prepayments is estimated. Finally, the consumer is provided with a side-by-side comparison of the total loan cost reduction and the estimated return on investment.

Abstract: A method for delivering pre-recorded telephone messages comprises dialing a telephone number to initiate a telephone call to a recipient, and monitoring the telephone call to determine whether the telephone call is not answered, is answered by an automated answering service, or is answered by a live human. If the telephone call is answered by an automated answering service, a first pre-recorded message from a first message source is played. If the telephone call is answered by a live human, a second pre-recorded message from a second message source is played.