Is It Retirement Planning or Peace of Mind Planning? Four Tools To Help.

Whether people use a financial planning professional or choose a do-it-yourself route, the motivating factor for at least long-term financial planning is often retirement. However, retirement can mean a lot of different things to different people.

For some it means stopping work completely. For others it may mean not having to work, but choosing to continue part- or full-time work doing something else they enjoy. And yet others may opt for a lifestyle choice that dictates working beyond what is considered a "normal" retirement age. No matter what the goal or motivation, most long-term savings plans simply boil down to creating peace of mind and increasing the range of options available to you in later years.

Professionals who can assist you with these efforts abound, but there are also an increasing number of sophisticated financial planning tools available that you can use on your own. There is a fee for some of these tools, but others are free. Every person's situation is different, and the stakes are too high to just let the price of these options be the determinant should you choose to go this route. Here are four planning tools you may want to consider:

The Vanguard Retirement Center. On this site, they offer free, comprehensive planning tools for all life stages and goals.

Morningstar Retirement Planning. Some of the extensive planning tools here are free while other options require a premium membership.

T. Rowe Price Retirement Planning. These planning tools are free and quite easy to use.

Fidelity Retirement Planning. This service requires you to become a Fidelity "member." There are a number of excellent planning options available on the Fidelity site.

As most of these sites reveal, it is never too late to do more planning for retirement, even if you're already retired!