Retirement Resources

Looking for help with retirement-income planning?

Certified financial planners generally cater to clients with portfolios of at least several hundred thousand dollars, and they often charge a few thousand for their services. But you can find help for little or no cost, no matter your nest egg.

Among the retirement resources available:

* Those with Internet access and a do-it-yourself attitude may want to start with the free interactive retirement calculators at financial Web sites such as Intuit Inc.’s Quicken (https://www.quicken.com), Meredith Corp.’s Family Money (https://www.familymoney.com) and Vanguard Group (https://www.vanguard.com).

Don’t forget to play around with several “what-if” scenarios (as in, What if I were to take--or quit--a part-time job? Or move from Manhattan Beach to Minneapolis to care for a relative?).

The Times’ Web site, at https://www.latimes.com, offers articles on retirement planning and related topics. Click on “personal finance.”

* Many brokerages offer free retirement services for customers with at least moderate-size portfolios, including those with a new rollover. Fidelity Investments, for instance, provides free retirement-income planning for clients with $100,000 or more.

* For investors who don’t mind shelling out a little dough, firms such as Vanguard, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. and TIAA-CREF offer retirement-income consultations for a flat fee of around $500. Charles Schwab Corp. provides general portfolio consultations, geared toward investors of any maturity, for $400. If you use one of these services, you might want to ask about follow-up consultations. T. Rowe and Fidelity are among those that toss in free annual reviews.

* For help finding an independent planner, you can call the National Assn. of Personal Financial Advisors at (888) FEE-ONLY or the Financial Planning Assn. at (800) 282-PLAN.