def getaccountbalance(string)
  str = string.split("$").at(1).delete(',').to_f;
  return str
end

a = "PRIV CLIENT PLUS (...5245)$62,763.78"
b = "INVESTMENT ACCOUNT (...9879)$10,081.60"

c = getaccountbalance(a)
d = getaccountbalance(b)

# when I try 
e = c - d 
puts e

52682.18