Free Retirement Income Planner

[jeffrey]

If there's one area where all of us will need help when we reach retirement, it's in turning our motley collection of investments into income that won't give out before we do.

This is why even I -- a "curb your enthusiasm" kind of guy -- felt a tinge of anticipation when Fidelity Investments introduced Retirement Income Planner, a Web tool designed to help retirees and near-retirees figure out how much they can withdraw from their investments to maintain a decent standard of living throughout retirement.

But I did have my doubts that any tool could really forecast income over a period that for someone in reasonably good health could last as long as a career. The fact that the tool's acronym is RIP didn't inspire much confidence either.

Even so, I gave RIP a test drive. To my surprise, it proved to be helpful in assessing -- and improving -- your chances of maintaining an adequate income for life. Anyone over 50 who anticipates having to live off his or her investments ought to give it a whirl...

Fidelity expects that most people will probably want to use this new tool with the help of a Fidelity rep, at least initially. Given the inherent complexity of the problem, they're probably right...

Until next year, all Fidelity customers will have free access to RIP on the Web or through a Fidelity representative by phone or face to face. Even noncustomers can go through RIP with a rep and come away with a free retirement income plan.

Starting in the first quarter of 2005, however, investors with less than $100,000 in assets with the firm will have to pay a one-time $500 fee to work with a rep... [read more at money.cnn.com]