As Congress continues to debate the tax treatment of defined contribution retirementplans and as most defined benefit plans are being changed orphased out, it has become even more important for workers to figureout how much they will need in retirement and what they need to donow to reach that figure.

A plethora of retirement tools abound on company websites. Manywill calculate how much you have to save to reach your goals, butthere is a new breed of calculators out there that do much morethan that, and some of them are on your mobile phone.

ING U.S. Retirement has two very popular tools, Compare Me and My RetirementOutlook. Neither is a standard retirement calculator.

“Compare Me really goes to the idea of behavioral finance andthe research we’ve done in our retirement institute to understandbehaviors, what drives people,” said Amy Vaillancourt, senior vicepresident of Inside Sales and Service for ING U.S. Retirement. Oneof the things ING learned is that people like to compare themselvesto others.

ING’s Compare Me tool allows individuals to plug in many factorsabout themselves, including hobbies, like golf or swimming, andthen compares them to their peers who have the same interests andmake the same amount of money.

“If your peer group is saving more than you are, it couldmotivate you to do better and save more. The other good thing aboutthis is there are over 1.2 million users,” Vaillancourt said.

The tool has another benefit. It collects behavioral data on itsusers so “we are able to share that information with the advisorcommunity….so they can use that in their discussions withparticipants and people who are saving for retirement,” shesaid.

Many advisors use the Compare Me tool when they are sitting downwith their clients because it is publicly available.

My Retirement Outlook takes the details of a person’s financialsituation and generates an interactive gap statement. The toolshows workers whether they have enough money in retirement and itallows them to enter things like additional savings outside oftheir retirement plan, any defined benefit plans or proceeds thatare anticipated.

“We already factored in Social Security or they can enter intheir own Social Security amount if they have their Social Securitystatement saved,” she said.

The tool has many variables that participants can play aroundwith, like what if I saved more? What if I retired later? Then itproduces a gap statement, letting them know if they are ontrack.

ING also has a mobile phone app called ING Retire that isavailable for the iPhone and Android devices. It allows people toview their retirement accounts online and also allows them tocomplete transactions over their phone, like increase theircontribution rate.

“We recognize we have to continue to evolve from acommunications perspective with the way people are communicating,”Vaillancourt said. Younger people are more attached to their phonesthan anything else, so it is a good way to reach them.

Another tool that is unique to ING is its gaming application,Struct, that is availableon iTunes. “We know that many many more people play gaming appsthan enroll in their 401(k), so this is another way to reach peoplein ways they want to be reached, educated and communicated with,”she said. “Struct is a gaming app and it has several messagesaround saving and diversification and asset allocation, based onthe construction of a building.”

The game is in pre-launch currently. It is available on theiTunes store, but the company hasn’t promoted it yet.

“It’s just a fun, unique take on what can sometimes be a topicthat people aren’t interested in,” Vaillancourt said.

GuidedChoice’s QuickAdvice tool takes you and your spouse’s currentfinancial information and savings details and determines how muchyou would have per month in retirement if the market is weak,moderate or strong.

The tool is a “way to get in and get information really quickly.You don’t have to enter a lot of data and it can give you a quicksnapshot,” said David Bernard, chief client officer atGuidedChoice.

“The entire industry has an uphill battle against inertia.Whether people admit they have a need, life is busy for all of usand it falls down on the priority list. We don’t need a lot of dataor a lot of time to start the awareness process. It triggers thatreaction: I know I need to do more, learn more about my situation,”he said.

“The best thing we can do at GuidedChoice is to get people upand moving, is to give them a piece of information that makes themthink. The best marketing brochure doesn’t do a whole lot,” hesaid. “We all know we should save more….The best way is to givepeople [a reason] to move, give them real information. Not abrochure or a sales pitch. Here’s where you are today and here’swhat we think that will turn into when you retire.”

The AARP website also has some cool tools for figuring out whatyour Social Security distribution will be at retirement andfiguring out the fees you pay on your 401(k).

The AARP 401(k) Fee Calculator, powered by BrightScope, Inc., estimatesthe fees associated with individual plans and compares them to theaverage for a low-cost 401(k) investor. It also approximates indollars the potential impact of the fees on the investor’s balancewhen they reach retirement age.

“Americans are trying to plan for their retirement without allthe information they need about their 401(k) plans,” said JeanSetzfand, AARP director of financial xecurity. “The research showsa clear lack of understanding about 401(k) fees and the impact theymight have on one’s saving. We developed this calculator to helppeople make better informed decisions about their retirementsavings plans.”

Setzfand added that a sound investment strategy should take intoaccount not just fees, but also an individual’s portfolio, risktolerance, objectives, diversification, fund performance, age andother factors.