Retirement Planner
Grow your savings to retirement, then spend them down year by year net of CPP and OAS, and find out the exact age your money runs out, or that it lasts comfortably past 95.
Rates & rules verified · July 2026Primary sources: Canada.ca – CPP payment amounts · CRA – RRSPs and related plans · CRA – Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) · CRA – Receiving income from a RRIF · CRA – Tax rates and income brackets
Portfolio balance by age
Balance from today through age 95, climbing while you save and falling once you draw down. The line is the steady-return plan; the shaded bands show the range across 1,000 simulated markets.
Retire later or spend less?
Age your money runs out if you retire earlier or later, or spend more or less each month (today's $), with everything else as entered.
Where your retirement income comes from
Each retirement year's spending, split between CPP, OAS, portfolio withdrawals and any unfunded gap once the portfolio runs out.
Year-by-year plan
Every year from retirement to 95. The highlighted row is when the portfolio is exhausted.
| Age | Start balance | Spending | CPP | OAS | From portfolio | End balance |
|---|
How this is calculated
Two phases, in nominal dollars
The model runs in future (nominal) dollars for accuracy and offers a today's-dollars toggle for interpretation. Accumulation (now → retirement) compounds your current savings and monthly contributions: balance each month becomes balance × (1 + r_m) + contribution, where r_m = (1 + return)^(1/12) − 1. Drawdown (retirement → age 95) runs one year at a time.
Drawdown each year
Desired spending is inflated from today's dollars to that year: spend₀ × 12 × (1 + inflation)^(age − currentAge). From it we subtract government benefits, then withdraw the shortfall from the portfolio and grow the remainder at your post-retirement return. When the balance hits zero, that's the age your money runs out. From then on CPP and OAS alone fall short of your spending: the income chart shows that unpaid part in red as Unfunded (spending − CPP − OAS − portfolio withdrawal), so every bar adds up to your spending target.
Balances are dated to the age you reach: the balance chart's point for an age is what you hold as you turn that age, and a year's end balance is the next age's start balance, so in today's dollars it is deflated by one more year of inflation. The chart's last point (96) is what is left after age 95.
CPP & OAS (indexed)
CPP uses the July–September 2026 figures, average $877.01/mo or maximum $1,507.65/mo at 65, adjusted for your start age: −0.6%/month before 65 (−36% at 60) and +0.7%/month after 65 (+42% at 70). OAS is $751.97/mo at 65–74 and $827.17/mo from 75 (the automatic 10% boost). Both are indexed to inflation each year. The OAS recovery tax (clawback) is charged on net income, not gross spending: we take net income as CPP + gross OAS + the taxable share of your portfolio withdrawals (RRSP/RRIF is ~100% taxable, TFSA 0%, non-registered roughly the realised gain), and reduce OAS by 15% of the amount above the recovery threshold (about $93,454, indexed), capped at your OAS. This mirrors the canada.ca OAS recovery-tax rule. To weigh CPP start ages against each other, use the CPP timing calculator.
Extra savings to reach 95
If your money runs out early, the tool solves for the additional monthly contribution that makes the portfolio last to 95, by bisection, re-running the whole two-phase model until it just survives. That is the number to close the gap, not a rule-of-thumb multiple.
Range of outcomes (1,000 simulated markets)
The headline uses the same return every year. Real markets swing, so the shaded bands on the balance chart run your exact plan through 1,000 simulated markets. Before retirement, each month's return is drawn from a lognormal distribution whose median compounds at your return (so the typical market lands near the steady-return line) and your contribution is added at month end. In retirement, each year's withdrawal comes out first, with the OAS recovery tax worked out on that market's balance, and then one year's random return is applied. The darker band holds the middle half of markets (25th to 75th percentile) and the lighter band 8 in 10 (10th to 90th). The line under the headline reports the share of markets in which the money lasts to 95 and the run-out age in the weakest 1 in 10. The markets are seeded, so the same link always shows the same range.
Volatility assumption. FP Canada publishes expected returns, not volatility, so we infer it from the return you enter. Your return implies a stock share between the FP Canada fixed-income return (3.2%, all bonds) and the average of its Canadian, US and international equity returns (6.4%, all stocks). That mix is combined with long-run volatility assumptions of 15% a year for stocks and 5% for bonds, with a correlation of 0.2 between them. Your inputs give about 14.4% a year before retirement and 5.0% after. Fat-tailed crashes, fees and changing volatility are not modelled, so read the bands as a guide to how wide the range is, not a forecast.
Retire later or spend less?
Each cell of the grid re-runs the full model above with one retirement age and one monthly spending level (today's dollars), everything else as entered, and shows the age the money runs out (95+ means it lasts). CPP and OAS start ages move with the retirement age exactly as in the main result, so the outlined cell always matches the headline. Rows cover up to three years either side of your retirement age within 50 to 75; columns step spending by a round amount near 11% of your target.
FP Canada assumptions
Default returns and 2.1% inflation follow the FP Canada 2026 Projection Assumption Guidelines (60/40 balanced ≈ 5.2% nominal). Defaults are conservative and fully editable.
What this doesn't model
Sequence-of-returns risk in the headline: real markets don't return a smooth average, and a crash in your first few retirement years is far more damaging than the same crash later. The headline age uses a fixed return and can't show that; the range bands and the odds under the headline show how much it can matter. The model also omits income tax on RRSP/RRIF withdrawals (TFSA withdrawals are tax-free), RRIF minimum withdrawals, GIS, spousal splitting, and one-off events. Pair it with the RRSP vs TFSA tool and the income tax calculator for the fuller picture. Rules verified July 2026.
Common questions
How much do I need to retire in Canada?
It depends on your desired spending net of government benefits. CPP and OAS together replace roughly 25–40% of a typical income, so you only need to fund the gap from your own savings. This planner grows your savings to your retirement age, then draws them down each year to cover your inflation-adjusted spending minus CPP and OAS, and tells you the exact age the money runs out, or that it lasts past 95.
How much is CPP and OAS in 2026?
For the July–September 2026 quarter, maximum CPP at age 65 is about $1,507.65/month and the average is about $877.01/month. Maximum OAS is $751.97/month at ages 65–74 and $827.17/month at 75 and older. OAS is clawed back at 15% of net income above about $93,454. Both benefits are indexed to inflation.
Should I take CPP early at 60 or wait until 70?
CPP is reduced 0.6% for every month you start before 65 (−36% at age 60) and increased 0.7% for every month you delay after 65 (+42% at age 70). Delaying gives a larger, inflation-indexed lifetime benefit that is valuable if you expect to live into your late 80s or beyond. This planner adjusts your CPP automatically based on the retirement age you choose.
Why does this planner show results in today's dollars?
After 30 years of inflation, $1.3M buys far less than it does today. The planner runs the math in nominal (future) dollars for accuracy, then lets you toggle to today's dollars, deflating every figure back to 2026 purchasing power, so you can judge whether the plan supports the lifestyle you have in mind now.
What is a safe withdrawal rate in retirement?
The 4% rule is a rough starting point, but it ignores government benefits, longevity, and sequence-of-returns risk. This planner models each year of retirement to age 95, withdrawing exactly what you need after CPP and OAS, and grows the remaining balance at your post-retirement return. That shows whether a given spending level is sustainable rather than assuming a fixed percentage.