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. 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.
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).
CPP and OAS: start age, and the age-75 OAS increase
Both pensions can start at different ages, and both are adjusted permanently based on when you do. 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). On top of all of that, OAS itself steps up by about 10% starting the quarter you turn 75 ($751.97/month for ages 65–74 versus $827.17/month for 75-plus, both Jul–Sep 2026) — this calculator applies that increase to whatever deferred, residency-adjusted amount you're already receiving, the moment you turn 75.
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. Real-life OAS repayment runs about a year behind the income that triggers it (based on your tax return, applied to the following July–June benefit period); this calculator applies the clawback within the same year for simplicity, which is a reasonable stand-in unless your income swings sharply from one year to the next.
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 (fully gone above roughly $107,819). 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 (with an $80,000 cost base — a $20,000 unrealized gain), and an untouched TFSA. CPP is $10,524/yr (started at 65) and OAS, with 40 years of residency, is $9,023.64/yr (73 is still in the 65–74 band). Desired after-tax spending is $60,000/yr.
- RRIF minimum: $500,000 × 5.40% (the factor for age 72 on January 1) = $27,000, mandatory.
- Mandatory taxable income: $10,524 + $9,023.64 + $27,000 = $46,547.64 — already just above the age amount's $46,432 phase-out start.
- Tax on that alone (federal age amount $9,190.65, no provincial age credit modelled): federal $2,926.70 + Alberta $1,902.29 ≈ $4,828.99, leaving $41,718.65 after tax — short of the $60,000 target by $18,281.35.
- Non-registered top-up: withdrawing $18,732.81 (20% of it, $3,746.56, is a realized capital gain; the taxable half, $1,873.28, is added to income) closes the gap exactly once its own extra tax is included.
- Total taxable income: $46,547.64 + $1,873.28 ≈ $48,420.92. Total tax: federal + Alberta ≈ $5,280.45 — no OAS clawback, since income is nowhere near the $95,323 threshold.
- Result: $10,524 + $9,023.64 (OAS, unclawed) + $27,000 (RRIF) + $18,732.81 (non-registered) − $5,280.45 (tax) = $60,000.00 after-tax spending, exactly. The RRSP/RRIF drops to $473,000 and non-registered to $81,267.19 before this year's growth; the TFSA isn't touched at all.
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: any provincial age amount, pension income amount, or pension income-splitting with a spouse (only the federal age amount is applied, since provincial figures vary and weren't verified for every province); 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; 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; sequence-of-returns risk (the real return is flat every single year, with no bad early years the way a real portfolio can have); GIS, spousal benefits, or a partner's finances of any kind; and the one-year real-world lag in how the OAS clawback is actually assessed and repaid. 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.
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. In real life the repayment runs on a lag — your OAS is reduced starting the following July based on the tax return you already filed, not the same calendar year's income — and this calculator applies it to the same year for simplicity, which is a close approximation for anyone whose income doesn't swing wildly year to year.
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. 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 — 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 all of them are themselves indexed to inflation in real life.
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.