Websites to take some of the guesswork out of planning

Retirement planning is no small task. Ideally, you start it in your 20s - though not everyone has the forethought. For the rest of us, these sites provide some direction.

Social Security may have an uncertain future, but for now the retirement planner at the Social Security Online site is not a bad place to start investigating the steps to take to prepare for old age. Links go to instructions for applying for benefits and tell when to do so. An eerie life-expectancy calculator will tell you, statistically, how much longer you can expect to live. (The calculator, we noticed, grants at least another year, even if you're already 110.) 

How to save. Should you save aggressively now? How do I figure out my net worth? When does a reverse mortgage make sense? The retirement page at CNNMoney provides "what to do" plans for people by age category - 20s and 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60-plus. Though you may not need it, there's advice for "How to handle a million-dollar windfall," and it's nice to dream.

SmartMoney.com is another magazine site with some entertaining information about retirement and living into old age. There's an article documenting the trend in "retirement getaways" offered by retirement communities trying to entice new residents, and one with advice for job-hunting seniors. A separate section deals with the issues in caring for older family members - choosing a nursing home, and managing a career if you are also a family caregiver.

Boomer guide. The baby boomer retirement guide at Kiplinger.com has information about retiring abroad, tax considerations in retirement, easing - instead of crashing - into retirement, and considering an annuity as a "do-it-yourself pension." Like many sites, including those above, this one has a wealth of calculators for figuring what your retirement goals should be and how much you need to save to get there. Also find out your tolerance for investment risk, and how to set up a budget.