The aging of the Baby Boomers has put the issue of retirement planning under a sharper lens, but the online financial planning tools offered by retirement plan providers have yet to become widely used by plan participants, local financial advisers say.

“Even though we’re in a tech-savvy world, they’re still just looking to get their statement on a quarterly basis, look at it and say, ‘That’s cool,’” said Steve Finnegan, a partner at LWBJ L.L.P.

Online tools have become standard for large providers such as Principal Financial Group Inc., ING Groep N.V. and The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., he said, and have also been developed by some independent sources, such as industry trade groups. Users can check account balances – fewer than 25 percent do so, he said – obtain loan calculations or estimate their retirement savings goals based on income desired and a targeted retirement date. A newer tool assists users in deciding whether to invest in a Roth 401(k) or a traditional pre-tax plan.

Brian Hood, a financial consultant for Legacy Financial Group, said the available tools have improved to some degree, particularly in terms of their interaction with the users. Some have adapted models, such as online tutorials, while others have incorporated online risk profiles.

“But they’re so benign,” he said. “They still don’t tell people what to do. There’s not a lot of individual, personalized advice.”

Hood says the current online tools are too simple because they don’t take into account “critical financial events” such as a divorce or loss of a job. In addition, he said they don’t take into account holders’ outside investments, such as an individual retirement account. Some providers tried to create tools that made calculations based on those accounts, but ran into federal privacy laws that prevented them from asking those questions of plan participants, he said.

Financial advisers say these online tools are useful, but usage statistics provide evidence of the need to pair those tools with education and one-on-one assistance from a retirement plan specialist. Mick Fouts, co-owner of Qualified Plan Consultants, said users appreciate the tools, but that the tools themselves are only as good as the people who use them.

“That’s the biggest downfall of the retirement industry: education and awareness,” Finnegan said. “And I don’t know if Internet tools will be able to resolve that issue.”

Jim Pierce, executive managing director of Holmes Murphy Financial Services, said the push by the industry toward self-service retirement plan models has led financial advisers to recapture some people who prefer personal interaction and the advice of an experienced investor.

“We created an online tool for Holmes Murphy and nobody used it,” he said. “We realized nobody is going to go through and build a retirement plan on their own.”

He said the onus is on employers to make sure workers are educated about how to use the online tools to their full potential. GuideOne Insurance, one of Pierce’s clients, asks him to meet with its employees twice a year to demonstrate an online tool available through Principal Financial Group Inc. Most recently, he demonstrated a tool that allows pension plan participants to plug in various retirement dates and income levels to determine their potential retirement income.

“If you’re going to offer it, then make sure your people understand how to use it,” he said. “They need to turn to the adviser or vendor they’re buying from and say, ‘Teach our people and come back regularly and demonstrate these tools.’”

Financial experts believe generational differences may play a role in low usage rates. The current group of retirees and the Baby Boomers approaching retirement age didn’t grow up with the Internet. For the younger generations that grew up with the Internet, retirement isn’t a pressing issue. But as those younger workers age, Fouts said, it could represent a paradigm shift in how those tools are utilized.

According to a recent study conducted by Diversified Investment Advisors, online advice tools will be used by 50 percent of Generation Y consumers by the end of the decade, compared with 33 percent of Baby Boomers

“It’s just about people getting more comfortable with the Internet and sharing information,” he said.