Quick answer
How long retirement savings last depends on your spending and your return after inflation, so this calculator grows your RRSP, TFSA and non-registered savings, then draws them down with CPP, OAS and RRIF minimums, after tax. In its Alberta example, someone turning 73 with a $500,000 RRIF, $100,000 of non-registered savings, average CPP and full OAS takes the $27,000 RRIF minimum plus $18,355.40 from savings to spend $60,000 after tax.
What this calculator actually does
This tool answers one narrow question: given what you have, what you'll add, and what you want to spend, how long does the money last? It is not a financial plan and it does not tell you what to do — it runs one simple, clearly stated default plan and shows you the arithmetic, in today's purchasing power, so you can see where it leads. Two phases: first it grows your RRSP, TFSA and non-registered accounts every year from your current age to your planned retirement age, adding that year's contribution and applying your expected real return (RRSP contributions stop after the year you turn 71, and from the year you turn 72 the RRIF minimum comes out even if you are still working, as explained below). Then, from retirement to your "plan to" age, it works out each year's income — CPP, OAS, and withdrawals — needed to hit your desired after-tax spending, applies real federal and provincial income tax to whatever part of that is taxable, and carries the resulting balances forward.
RRSP: no contribution after the year you turn 71; from the year you turn 72, balance = (balance − RRIF minimum) × (1 + real return), the minimum taxed as that year's only income and the after-tax amount added to non-registered
Retirement (each year): gross up CPP + OAS + withdrawals until after-tax income = desired spending, following the withdrawal order below
The withdrawal order — a default, not a recommendation
Once income is needed, this calculator draws on sources in a fixed sequence: CPP and OAS first (you can't choose not to receive them once started), then non-registered savings, then RRSP/RRIF, and TFSA last — with one exception described below. This is a common, sensible default: it lets tax-sheltered growth continue as long as possible and leaves the tax-free TFSA as a final reserve. It is not the order that minimizes your lifetime tax, and this calculator does not claim otherwise. The genuinely tax-optimal sequence depends on your income in each specific year, how your marginal rate is likely to move as RRIF minimums grow, whether the OAS clawback zone is in play, and factors this tool doesn't see at all — a spouse's income, other benefits, your health. Treat every number below as "here's where a simple, honest default plan lands," not as the plan you should necessarily follow.
RRIF minimums: the withdrawal you can't skip
An RRSP must be converted to a RRIF (or an annuity, or cashed out) by December 31 of the year you turn 71. No minimum withdrawal applies in that conversion year itself, but starting the following year — generally age 72 — CRA requires a minimum payment every year after, calculated as the RRIF's fair market value on January 1 of that year, multiplied by a prescribed factor keyed to your age on January 1 of that year: 1 ÷ (90 − age) up to age 70, then a published schedule from 5.28% at 71 — the first mandatory year, since you are 71 on January 1 of the year you turn 72 — through 5.40% at 72 and 18.79% at 94, to a flat 20% from 95 on. Ages in this calculator's table are the age you turn that year, so the row for 72 applies the age-71 factor, the row for 73 the age-72 factor, and so on. This calculator applies that minimum whether or not you actually need the money that year — real retirees can't opt out of it either — and, matching the rule this page was built to, treats any minimum beyond what's needed for spending as reinvested in your non-registered account after tax (the same happens if CPP and OAS alone, before any RRIF minimum, already exceed what you asked to spend). If you plan to keep working past 72, the same rules apply: an RRSP must mature by the end of the year you turn 71 (Income Tax Act s. 146(2)(b.4)), and CRA names December 31 of that year as the last day you can contribute. So this calculator makes no RRSP contribution after the year you turn 71 and, from the year you turn 72, takes the minimum out of the RRIF every year, even before your planned retirement age. It taxes that minimum as if it were your only income that year, moves what is left after tax into your non-registered savings, and says so in a note under the balances. Real tax would be higher, because the minimum lands on top of your pay.
CPP and OAS: start age, and the age-75 OAS increase
Both pensions can start at different ages, and the age you start changes the amount you are paid. CPP drops 0.6% for every month started before 65 (down to 64% of your age-65 amount at 60) and rises 0.7% for every month started after 65 (up to 142% at 70). OAS can't start before 65, but rises 0.6% for every month deferred past 65, up to 136% at 70 — with no further benefit to waiting longer. OAS also carries a full-pension residency test: the maximum requires 40 years of Canadian residency after 18, and less than that pro-rates the payment (years ÷ 40). The years are counted as at 65: if you defer, the increase applies to the partial pension you were qualified for then, and the Old Age Security Act (s. 7.1(3)) pays the greater of that and the partial pension recomputed with the years you have when you are approved — this calculator uses only the first. On top of all of that, OAS itself steps up by about 10% starting the month after your 75th birthday ($762.50/month for ages 65–74 versus $838.75/month for 75-plus, both Oct–Dec 2026) — this calculator applies that increase to whatever deferred, residency-adjusted amount you're already receiving, the moment you turn 75. OAS is re-indexed every quarter; because this planner works in today's dollars, it takes the current October–December 2026 rate and annualizes it (twelve times $762.50 is $9,150.00 a year at 65–74, before any deferral or residency adjustment). That annualized figure is not the OAS paid in calendar 2026, which is lower because the earlier quarters of the year paid less.
The OAS clawback (Recovery Tax)
Once your net income for a year passes a threshold — $95,323 based on 2026 income — you repay 15 cents of OAS for every dollar over that line, up to the full amount you were paid. This calculator checks the threshold against each year's total taxable income (CPP, OAS, and whatever of your withdrawals is taxable) and reduces the OAS actually received accordingly. The amount repaid is itself deducted in arriving at net income (T1 line 23500), so clawed-back OAS is repaid but never also income-taxed — this calculator taxes only what's left, and measures the federal age amount against that same net figure. The repayment is settled on the tax return for the year the OAS was paid, against that same year's income (Income Tax Act s. 180.2(2)), which is how this calculator applies it, and $95,323 is the threshold for 2026 income. What runs behind is the monthly withholding: Service Canada holds back OAS during the year using an earlier year's income (the income of two years earlier for January to June payments, the previous year's for July to December, s. 180.2(1) and (4)), and what was withheld is claimed on the return as tax already paid (line 43700).
Tax on retirement income — and the federal age amount
Retirement income skips two things employment income never does: CPP contributions and EI premiums, because CPP, OAS, RRIF and RRSP payments are reported on T4A-family slips, not a T4 — there is no CPP or EI box on any of them. So this calculator computes tax directly from taxable income using the same federal and provincial bracket tables, basic personal amounts and credits as our take-home pay calculator, minus the payroll layer entirely. It adds one credit take-home pay doesn't need: the federal age amount, up to $9,208 for 2026 for anyone 65 or older, reduced by 15% of net income over $46,432 (CRA's 2026 TD1 gives the partial-claim range as net income between $46,432 and $107,819, so the amount is gone above that). Non-registered withdrawals add one more piece — only the taxable half (the 50% inclusion rate) of whatever portion of the withdrawal is a realized gain, tracked the same way a brokerage tracks adjusted cost base as you withdraw. TFSA withdrawals are never taxed and never count toward the OAS threshold at all.
Worked example — a single year in Alberta
An Albertan who turns 73 this year — so was 72 on January 1, the age CRA's factor is keyed to — has a RRIF worth $500,000 on January 1, a non-registered account worth $100,000 whose cost base equals its value (no unrealized gain, the assumption this calculator makes about today's balance), and an untouched TFSA. CPP is $10,300.08/yr (the July 2026 average for a new pension at 65, started at 65) and OAS, with 40 years of residency, is $9,150.00/yr — the current October–December 2026 rate of $762.50 a month, annualized (73 is still in the 65–74 band). Desired after-tax spending is $60,000/yr. To reproduce it, choose Alberta; set current age, planned retirement age and plan-to age all to 73, the expected real return to 0% (so the balances in the table are not grown a year), the RRSP balance to $500,000, the non-registered balance to $100,000 and desired spending to $60,000; leave everything else at its default. The one row of the table is this example.
- RRIF minimum: $500,000 × 5.40% (the factor for age 72 on January 1) = $27,000, mandatory.
- Mandatory taxable income: $10,300.08 + $9,150.00 + $27,000 = $46,450.08 — just above the age amount's $46,432 phase-out start.
- Tax on that alone (federal age amount $9,205.29, no provincial age credit modelled): federal $2,910.99 + Alberta $1,894.49 ≈ $4,805.48, leaving $41,644.60 after tax — short of the $60,000 target by $18,355.40.
- Non-registered top-up: withdrawing $18,355.40 closes the gap exactly. The account's cost base equals its value, so none of the withdrawal is a gain: it adds nothing to taxable income and nothing to the tax.
- Total taxable income: $46,450.08. Total tax: federal + Alberta ≈ $4,805.48 — no OAS clawback, since income is nowhere near the $95,323 threshold.
- Result: $10,300.08 + $9,150.00 (OAS, unclawed) + $27,000 (RRIF) + $18,355.40 (non-registered) − $4,805.48 (tax) = $60,000.00 after-tax spending, exactly. The RRSP/RRIF drops to $473,000 and non-registered to $81,644.60; the TFSA isn't touched at all.
- Credits left out: the federal pension income amount (a credit on $2,000 of RRIF income at 14%, $280), Alberta's age amount ($6,345 at 8%, $508) and Alberta's pension income amount ($1,753 at 8%, $140) are not in this calculator, so the tax above is about $928 more than this person would pay.
Figures above carry full precision from the same functions the calculator runs; only the write-up rounds for readability.
What this calculator doesn't model
Beyond the withdrawal order not being optimized (above), this tool leaves out: the federal pension income amount, every provincial age and pension income amount, and pension income-splitting with a spouse (only the federal age amount is applied; the other credits are simply not built into this planner's tax step, so the tax shown is too high for anyone 65 or older with RRIF income and tax to pay — the federal pension income amount alone is a credit on up to $2,000 of RRIF income, $280 at the 14% federal rate, and in the Alberta example above the three credits left out come to about $928); the option to base the RRIF minimum on a younger spouse's or common-law partner's age, which lowers the minimum (Income Tax Act s. 146.3(1); CRA, Receiving income from a RRIF); the Québec Pension Plan's own start-age rules (Quebec can be selected, but CPP's rules are applied to it, as the note under the province list says); whole-year timing — CPP and OAS are counted for the full year they start and the age-75 OAS increase for the whole year you turn 75, where real payments change the month after a birthday; Quebec's own treatment of the OAS repayment (the calculator deducts it from income for provincial tax everywhere, which was verified against the federal return, not Revenu Québec's); the 10-year (living in Canada) or 20-year (living abroad) minimum residency thresholds OAS actually requires to pay anything at all — it only shows the proportional formula — and, after a deferral, the recomputation of a partial pension at approval; annual taxation of interest or dividends earned inside the non-registered account (only realized capital gains, at withdrawal, are taxed); any unrealized gain your non-registered account already carries today (its cost base is assumed to equal its current value on day one); CPP or OAS collected before your chosen retirement age while still working; tax on a RRIF minimum taken while you are still working being charged on top of your pay (it is taxed here as your only income that year); sequence-of-returns risk (the real return is flat every single year, with no bad early years the way a real portfolio can have); and GIS, spousal benefits, or a partner's finances of any kind. Treat this as a clear, honest first pass — not a substitute for a real retirement plan.
FAQ
Is the non-registered-then-RRSP-then-TFSA withdrawal order actually the best one for me?
No — and this calculator doesn't claim it is. It uses a simple, stated default (spend non-registered savings first, then RRSP/RRIF, then TFSA last) because it's a reasonable, common starting point, not because it minimizes your lifetime tax. The order that actually minimizes lifetime tax depends on your income, your other assets, and how your tax bracket is likely to move over time — sometimes drawing RRSP earlier, or blending sources, works out better. This tool answers "where do I land with a simple, published plan", not "what should I do"; that second question deserves a conversation with a financial planner or accountant who can see your whole picture.
Do I have to start withdrawing from my RRSP once I turn 71?
Your RRSP itself must be converted to a RRIF (or an annuity, or cashed out) by December 31 of the year you turn 71 — CRA doesn't let you keep it as an RRSP past that year. But no minimum withdrawal is required in the year you convert; the first mandatory minimum payment applies the year after, generally age 72, calculated as a percentage of the RRIF's value on January 1 of that year, using CRA's factor for your age on that date — 71 in that first year, so 5.28%, then 5.40% the year after, and so on. This calculator applies that rule exactly: no forced withdrawal at 71, then a mandatory, age-based minimum every year from 72 onward, taken whether or not you actually need the money that year — any leftover after tax is added to your non-registered savings. That includes any years you plan to keep working past 72: the calculator takes the minimum then too, taxes it as your only income that year (real tax would be higher, because it lands on top of your pay), adds the rest to your non-registered savings, and makes no RRSP contribution after the year you turn 71 — CRA names December 31 of that year as the last day you can contribute.
Why don't CPP and OAS get reduced the way a paycheque is?
Because they aren't payroll income. CPP, OAS and RRIF/RRSP withdrawals are reported on T4A-family slips (T4A(P), T4A(OAS), T4RIF, T4RSP), not a T4, and none of those slips have a CPP contribution or EI premium box — those deductions only ever apply to employment or self-employment earnings. So this calculator, unlike our take-home pay calculator, never subtracts CPP or EI from any of your retirement income; the only thing it subtracts is income tax itself, federal and provincial, on whichever amount is taxable.
What is the OAS clawback and how does this calculator apply it?
Formally the OAS Recovery Tax, it claws back 15% of every dollar of net income above a threshold ($95,323 based on 2026 income) until the entire OAS payment is repaid. This calculator checks that threshold every year against that year's total taxable income (CPP, OAS, and RRIF/RRSP withdrawals combined) and reduces the OAS actually received accordingly, capped so you never lose more than the OAS you were paid. The amount repaid is deducted from your income before income tax is worked out (T1 line 23500), so clawed-back OAS isn't taxed twice — this calculator does the same. The repayment is settled on your tax return for the year the OAS was paid, against that same year's income, which is how this calculator applies it. What runs behind is the monthly withholding: from July each year Service Canada holds back OAS using the previous year's income (and the income of two years earlier for January to June), and anything withheld counts as tax already paid when you file.
Why does the calculator ask for my years of Canadian residency?
The full OAS pension requires 40 years of Canadian residency after age 18; anyone with less gets a partial pension equal to that fraction of the full amount (residency years ÷ 40), which is exactly the formula this calculator applies. Enter your years as at 65: if you defer, the 0.6% a month increase applies to the partial pension you were qualified for at 65, so 35 years at 65 and a start at 70 gives 35 ÷ 40 × 136% = 119% of the full pension, not 136%. The Old Age Security Act (s. 7.1(3)) pays the greater of that and the partial pension recomputed with the years you have when you are approved; this calculator uses only the first. It doesn't separately enforce the minimum residency requirement to qualify at all (10 years if you're living in Canada when you apply, 20 if living abroad) — it only shows what a given residency fraction would pay, assuming you otherwise qualify.
Why does everything show in today's dollars instead of the actual future amounts?
Because comparing a $50,000 target to a $50,000 RRSP balance is only meaningful if both numbers mean the same thing. This calculator grows every account at your expected real return — your investment return minus inflation and fees — so every figure it shows, this year or thirty years from now, is already expressed in today's purchasing power. That's also why CPP, OAS, tax brackets and the OAS clawback threshold are held flat throughout the projection rather than inflated each year: in real terms they roughly are flat, since CPP, OAS and the federal amounts are indexed to inflation in real life, and so are most provinces' (Prince Edward Island does not index its personal amounts, Manitoba has stopped indexing its basic personal amount and brackets from 2025, and British Columbia has announced a pause on indexing its brackets and credits for 2027 to 2030).
This page is general information based on published 2026 federal, provincial and Service Canada figures, not tax or financial advice. Your own retirement depends on decisions and risks this calculator doesn't see — talk to a licensed financial planner or accountant about your own situation.