This paper examines the issue of retirement preparedness among individuals, focusing on the impact of financial illiteracy on retirement planning. Despite the availability of education tools, many individuals lack the necessary knowledge to plan for retirement effectively. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of two commonly used retirement planning toolsfinancial calculators and reading retirement planning articles -in promoting action toward retirement planning among study participants, while also examining the emotional responses evoked by each treatment. Results indicated no meaningful statistical difference in the effectiveness of either tool in promoting action. However, a significant relationship was found between the financial calculator treatment and the likelihood of participants reporting negative emotions. Future research on the topic could explore different education methods and investigate the reasons why the financial calculator treatment elicited stronger negative emotions. Additionally, further analysis could be conducted to examine the results for different demographics. These findings have important implications for driving research on retirement preparedness forward, particularly for underrepresented groups who stand to benefit most from financial literacy knowledge.