Putnam’s app lets you see how not buying that TV would fatten your 401(k)

The app also helps you search for a better deal on the same television.

For instance, it might find that the TV is selling for $1,299 at a competing store. The Putnam PriceCheck&Save app will also show you that the additional savings of $439, if put into your 401(k) now, would translate into $11 per month in additional income at retirement. It even allows you to make the transfer into your retirement account.

The reason for developing the app is to help people think in terms of retirement income and how much saving now will translate into spending then.

“We’re not suggesting that people aren’t going to buy anything,’’ said Edmund F. Murphy III, head of defined contribution for Putnam. “But if we help people just think about [their spending], if we’re helping them frame it in a way that they otherwise wouldn’t have thought about it, that’s a good thing.’’

The application isn’t intended to discourage purchases, but instead translates small savings now into real monthly income in the future. Too frequently, investors think about the hundreds of thousands they would have to save to live comfortably in retirement. Sometimes thinking in such large terms causes them to feel overwhelmed and tune out, Murphy said. It may be easier to see how even a relatively small amount saved now can help someone reach a desired monthly income level in retirement.

The iPhone app is available for workers with Putnam Investments accounts for now, but the company said it is working on a generalized version that may be available for noncustomers later.