Wells Fargo Updates Retirement Site

According to a press release, new interactive tools on the site, wellsfargo.com/investing/retirement, can help savers select the IRA best suited to their needs and calculate the cost of taking cash from a 401(k) account left at a previous employer. A new, age-based organization of the site allows users to focus on information relevant to their life stage—whether they are in their 20s or retired.

The IRA decision tool walks a user through brief questions to determine if a full-service brokerage IRA, a CD IRA, a mutual fund IRA, or a discount brokerage IRA should be selected for their goals. The tool also includes questions to help determine whether to choose a Roth or a Traditional IRA.

In addition, the site offers a tool that allows users to calculate the impact of increasing (or decreasing) contributions to their IRA. Users of the tool can increase or decrease the age at which they plan to retire, as well as their current contribution rate, and immediately view the baseline savings as well as the potential cumulative savings they could achieve over time.

Another site enhancement is a worksheet for analyzing spending today to save for retirement, the announcement said. The Small Steps tool uses some basic information like current age and planned retirement age to show how much a small change (like bringing lunch to work or borrowing books from the library) could save users over a year, and calculates how much this saving might equal at retirement.