Daniel Marsula, Post-Gazette Click illustration for larger image. More Coverage: Companies wonder: Can workers be led into savings plans like horses to water? Benefits shrink if you retire early, grow if you retire late She can retire early, but she'll need to find some part-time work

Robert Rossi, the director of investment research for Robinson-based retirement accounts manager and administrator Invesmart, has first-hand experience about how just intimidating it can be for workers who try to use the Internet to establish and manage 401(k) accounts.

Five or six years ago, his firm teamed with a firm that designed retirement account portfolios based on answers workers provided to an extensive online survey. Invesmart offered the service to 30,000 workers, including some of its own.

Out of the 30,000, only 3,000 made their way to the Web site. And only 600 -- including 150 Invesmart employees -- completed the survey and received the advice. "You basically had 450 people out of 30,000 who got something out of the system. That's abysmal," Mr. Rossi says.

Online 401(k) programs that spit out fund choices based on an investor's age, risk tolerance and other factors may be all right for intrepid, do-it-yourselfers. But in designing them, programmers face an unavoidable compromise.

To get meaningful recommendations, you have to ask a lot of detailed questions. Ask too many questions and many workers will tune out. Making the questionnaire shorter and easier may keep them interested, but may not provide enough information to formulate solid investment advice.

Brad Bonno of Vested Interest, PNC Financial Services Group's retirement plan services arm, says when it offered a Morningstar online program to participants, only about 10 percent tried to use the service and the vast majority never made it to the end to get actual recommendations.

"I think people got in there and got overwhelmed by all the data it was asking for," he says.

Morningstar is offering a new online service that provides recommendations after an investor looks at only three screens, Mr. Bonno says.

The questions and assumptions online programs use can have a dramatic impact on results. One questionnaire may ask whether you're retiring in one to five years while another may be less specific, providing one to 10 years as a choice. The software could assume a standard rate of inflation or ask you to pick one. All will ask what percentage of your current income you'll need in retirement. About 80 percent used to be conventional wisdom, but more advisers are telling clients to plan on needing more.

"I would definitely plan for matching at least the level of income you're receiving now," says David Root Jr., chief executive officer of D.B. Root & Co., Downtown.

In their most elemental form, online programs are free and give investors a general idea of how their savings habits stack up. A.G. Edwards' Retirement Nest Egg (www.nesteggscore.com) asks 14 questions about marital status, age, income and other financial matters, spitting out a three-digit score indicating how your saving and investing habits stack up with the rest of the country.

"We're just trying to remind people that they need to be thinking about it," says Sophie Beckman, a financial planning specialist for the St. Louis investment firm. "Just getting them there and looking at it and going through the questions does more than people think."

To get more than a general impression, you'll have to pay.

For $59 a quarter, Smart401k (www.smart401k.com) asks 10 questions about when you'll retire and the level of risk you're willing to take. Based on your answers, you'll get recommendations of how to allocate your savings among the funds in your company's retirement plan.

Smart401(k) doesn't ask about savings outside your employer's plan, so following its recommendations are inappropriate for those who have a significant amount of money in other retirement accounts.

"When someone has significant outside assets, we have found it is best to deal with them live, as things can get significantly more complex," says Chief Executive Officer Scott Revare.

Many investors would walk away from their computers if they had to work through that complexity on their own, he says.

Invesmart (www.invesmart.com) uses a combination of software and human interaction at enrollment meetings where workers sign up for their company's 401(k) plan. The software analyzes a worker's pay, current 401(k) balance, outside investments -- including their spouse's savings and pension benefits -- and produces a managed portfolio built around 13 mutual funds selected by Invesmart. The portfolio is automatically rebalanced.

Financial Engines (www.financialengines.com), Guided Choice (www.guidedchoice.com) and Morningstar's Retirement Manager (www.morningstar.com) offer similar programs. Costs vary as do the mutual funds in the portfolio. Moreover, each company's software treats items such as company stock a little bit differently.

If a computer-generated plan leaves it up to an individual to implement the plan, it may not happen. That's why providers of the packaged portfolios are relying more on the human touch to move things along.

"We find that people much prefer to pick up the phone and talk with a person," Mr. Rossi says.

Even if a worker does what the computer recommends, there's still the job of realigning the portfolio as markets and the worker's age and financial status change. Financial advisers say it's hard for most workers to keep on top of the retirement accounts by themselves.

"Having a person to work with probably gives you a higher probability to succeed. That person can act almost like a personal trainer in the sense they can encourage you and motivate you along the way," Mr. Root says.

"I have a lot of admiration for the person who can do it on their own. That's a terrific thing, but I think it's the exception rather than the rule."