Spouse 1 & Spouse 2: Retirement Calculator

Active checkbox — Uncheck to model a single person. All fields for that spouse are disabled and zeroed. The projection runs as a single-person plan with no survivor mode, no income splitting, and no survivor spending reduction.

Personal
Name — Display name used throughout the calculator. Cosmetic only.
Age / Retire Age — Current age and planned retirement age. Contributions stop and draws begin at retire age. Spouse 1's age drives the x-axis on all charts.
Plan to Age — Projected age at death. Assets roll tax-free to the survivor. The projection runs until the later spouse's plan age.

Government Benefits
CPP Age / % of Max — Age to start CPP (60–70) and your % of the maximum benefit. Check My Service Canada for your estimate. Early CPP (before 65): −0.6%/month. Late CPP (after 65): +0.7%/month.
OAS Age — Age to start OAS (65–70). Deferring adds 0.6%/month (+36% max at 70). OAS increases a further 10% at age 75.

Registered Accounts
RRSP Balance — Current RRSP balance. Grows at your investment return rate. Fully taxable on withdrawal. Converts to RRIF at 71 with mandatory minimum draws.
Monthly RRSP — Monthly RRSP contribution during working years. Inflation-adjusted annually.
RRSP Room (0=unknown) — Current available RRSP contribution room from CRA My Account. Set to 0 for unlimited. When set, contributions stop when room is exhausted. Verify via CRA My Account — room is not automatically calculated from income.
Monthly Spousal RRSP — Monthly contribution to your spouse's RRSP using your own room. Goes into the spouse's RRSP balance for potential income splitting in early retirement (before age 65).
TFSA Balance — Current TFSA balance. Grows and withdraws completely tax-free. Withdrawals restore room the following calendar year.
Monthly TFSA — Monthly TFSA contribution during working years. Overflow beyond available room goes to non-registered.

LIRA
LIRA Balance — Locked-In Retirement Account from a former employer pension. Cannot withdraw freely. The calculator automatically applies all unlock rules:
  1. From LIF start age: draws the CRA maximum rate each year, transferred to RRSP
  2. Small amount exception: if balance falls below the threshold, full amount unlocks immediately
  3. At partial unlock age (e.g. MB age 55): 50% transferred to RRSP (one-time)
  4. At full unlock age (e.g. MB age 65): remaining balance transferred to RRSP
Unlock events appear as yellow rows in the Action Plan tab.
LIRA Jurisdiction — Province where the pension plan was registered (not where you live). Determines unlock ages and LIF rules.

Non-Registered
Non-Reg Balance — Non-registered investments. Withdrawals trigger capital gains tax on growth at the Cap Gains Inclusion % rate.

Employer Pension
Monthly (today's $) — Monthly DB or employer pension in today's dollars. Fully taxable. Eligible for pension income credit at any age.
Pension Start Age — Age when pension begins. Some plans start as early as 55.
Indexed to Inflation — Check for public sector pensions that increase with inflation. Uncheck for fixed private sector pensions — these lose real value over time.
Survivor % — % of pension paid to surviving spouse after pensioner's death. Common: 60% or 100%. Check your plan documents.

Spending Stages
Slow-Go Age / % — Age when spending decreases. The spending goal is multiplied by this % from this age forward.
No-Go Age / % — Age when spending decreases further. A second multiplier on top of Slow-Go.
Survivor Spending % — After one spouse passes, the survivor's spending goal drops to this % of the couple's goal. Default 70%.

RRSP Strategy
Enable RRSP Meltdown — Forces larger RRSP withdrawals to deplete the RRSP by the target age. Excess swept to TFSA then non-reg. Avoids large forced RRIF draws in later years.
Meltdown to Age — Age by which RRSP should be fully depleted. Typically 75.
Equal RRSP Split (50/50) — Splits RRSP draws evenly between spouses to keep both in lower tax brackets.
Smooth Tax Rates — Multi-pass optimizer equalizing effective tax rates across retirement years. Minimizes total lifetime tax. Recommended: on.
TFSA Bracket Opt — Maximum RRSP draw replaced with tax-free TFSA draw to avoid crossing a bracket threshold. Set $0 to disable.
RRIF Draw Strategy — "As Needed" draws what's required to meet the spending goal plus meltdown. "Minimum Only" caps draws at the RRIF mandatory minimum after age 72 and supplements from TFSA/Non-Reg — useful for preserving the RRSP/RRIF as long as possible.

Gap Year & Survivor
Gap Year Target Rate % — When Spouse 2 retires before Spouse 1, draws S2's RRSP up to this effective tax rate during gap years, sweeping the net to TFSA. ~12–13%. Only active when meltdown is enabled.
CPP Pension Sharing — Both spouses 60+ can pool their CPP income and split it 50/50 to reduce combined tax. Requires both to be receiving CPP. Check this if one spouse has significantly higher CPP than the other.
Enable GIS — Guaranteed Income Supplement. Tax-free monthly benefit for low-income OAS recipients 65+. Clawed back 50 cents per dollar of other income (including RRSP draws). 2026 max: ~$1,086/mo single, ~$654/mo per person for couples. Shown as a yellow-orange bar in the income chart.
Part-Time Income — Annual taxable income (consulting, part-time work) earned by Spouse 1 during phased retirement. Reduces RRSP draws needed during those years. Set "From Age" to 0 to default to retire age. Set "To Age" to 0 for no end.

Tax Jurisdiction
Province — Sets provincial tax brackets, personal amount, age credit, and pension credit. All provinces except Quebec. Required.
OAS Clawback Start — Income threshold above which OAS is recovered at 15¢/dollar. 2026: $90,997.
Fed Age Amount — Federal age credit (CRA line 30100). Available 65+. Clawed back above ~$45,522. Update via Sync.
Provincial Health Premium — ON and BC charge income-based health premiums (max ~$900/yr per person). Check if applicable to your province. Does not apply outside ON/BC.

Government Benefits
Max CPP — Maximum annual CPP at age 65 (2026: $18,091.80). Scaled by your CPP % of Max. Update via Sync.
Max CPP2 Annual — Maximum CPP2 (enhanced CPP) at 40-year maturity (2026: $3,466). Prorated by contribution years since 2024. Update via Sync.
Max OAS — Maximum annual OAS (2026: $8,907.72). Update via Sync.

Goals & Returns
Target Net Goal — Desired annual after-tax household spending in today's dollars. Inflation-adjusted each year. Reduced by life stage multipliers.
Pre-Ret Return % — Expected annual return while working. Compounded monthly.
Post-Ret Return % — Expected annual return in retirement. Typically lower than pre-retirement.
Inflation % — Annual inflation rate. Indexes spending, benefits, brackets, contributions, TFSA room, and LIRA thresholds. Bank of Canada target: 2%.

TFSA & System
System Year — Base year for tax values. Change only if modelling from a future starting point.
TFSA Room / yr / Person — Annual new TFSA room per person (2026: $7,000). Accrues per living spouse.
TFSA Room (S1/S2) — Current unused TFSA room per spouse. Check CRA My Account. Tracked independently per spouse.
Cap Gains % — % of capital gains taxable on non-registered withdrawals (2026: 50%).

LIRA Thresholds
Small Amt <65 — LIRA balance below this while under 65 triggers full immediate unlock to RRSP. 2026: $14,920. Inflation-indexed. Update via Sync.
Small Amt 65+ — Same threshold for 65+. 2026: $29,840. Update via Sync.

Current Home Value — Today's market value of your primary home. Grows by inflation annually. Used for NW chart and sell/downsize events.

Option A — Sell at Age — Full inflation-adjusted home value injected into investments (TFSA → RRSP → Non-Reg) at that age. Annual rent added to spending goal from sell age onward.
Option B — Downsize at Age — Net proceeds (old minus new home cost) injected as a lump sum. Remaining home value continues growing on the NW chart.

Both options can be used together (e.g. downsize at 70, sell at 85). The NW chart has an "Include Home Equity" toggle (default on).

Lump Sums — Up to two one-time injections (inheritance, bonus, property sale). Triggered at Spouse 1's age. Allocated: TFSA (up to room) → RRSP (up to cap) → Non-Reg. Split 50/50 between spouses.
Max to RRSP — Cap the RRSP portion. Excess goes to Non-Reg. Verify RRSP room via CRA My Account.

Contribution Boost — Additional monthly RRSP/TFSA per spouse from a specified age. Useful for mortgage payoff, children moving out, or a raise.

Recalculate Strategy — Runs the full projection with current inputs. Buttons appear both above and below the input cards.
Sync to Current Year — Updates CPP, OAS, CPP2, Fed Age Amount, and LIRA thresholds to current year values. For future years, prompts you to enter the updated amounts.
Save Setup — Saves all inputs to browser local storage. Restored automatically on next visit.

Solve for Retirement Age — Finds the top 10 earliest retirement age combinations where the portfolio survives.
Solve for Target Net Goal — Finds the maximum sustainable annual spending with current inputs.
Solve for Additional Monthly RRSP — Finds the minimum extra RRSP contribution needed to reach your spending goal.
Solve for Optimal CPP/OAS — Tests all 4,356 age combinations to maximize final portfolio. Solvers run without smoothing for speed — re-enable and recalculate after applying.
Solve for Return % — Finds the minimum post-retirement return needed (preserving your pre/post spread). Shows current vs minimum side by side with an Apply button to de-risk your portfolio. Includes 0.25% buffer.
Inflation Sensitivity — Table showing final NW at inflation rates from 1% to 4%. Your current rate is highlighted with a ◀.
Return Sensitivity — Table showing final NW at post-retirement returns from 1% to 6%, preserving the pre/post spread. Current rate highlighted.
CPP Break-Even Age — Shows the age at which deferring CPP past 65 starts to pay off cumulatively vs taking at 65. Covers all deferral ages from 60 to 70. Useful for deciding when to start CPP.
🔗 Share URL — Encodes all current inputs into a URL and copies it to clipboard. Anyone opening that link gets your exact setup loaded automatically. Useful for sharing with a spouse or advisor.

Setup & Projections — Main tab with inputs and the year-by-year ledger. Toggle Combined/Split to see per-spouse columns. Toggle Nominal/Real to deflate all dollar values to today's purchasing power.
Charts — Income Breakdown (stacked bars: RRSP/LIRA/TFSA/Non-Reg/CPP/OAS/GIS/Pension per year) and Net Worth Over Time (stacked area). Both have Combined/Split toggles. NW chart has Include Home Equity toggle.
Compare — Enter a description in the text field, then save two scenarios to overlay their net worth lines. The label from the description field becomes the scenario name.
Action Plan — Year-by-year withdrawal instructions. Yellow rows = LIRA unlock events with specific action required.
Stress Test — 500+ simulations with randomized returns to estimate probability of not running out of money.
Help — This tab.

🌙 Dark Mode — Toggle button top-right. Preference saved between sessions.
⚠ Shortfall Alert — Red banner appears when the portfolio goes negative, showing the exact age. Disappears when the plan is viable.
✕ Dismiss Disclaimer — Close the disclaimer permanently. Won't show again on return visits.
ⓘ Tooltips — Blue info icons on all input fields. Hover to see a one-line explanation without opening Help.

Tax engine — Federal + provincial progressive brackets indexed by inflation. Federal lowest rate 14.5% (2025+). CPP, OAS, RRSP/RRIF draws, employer pension, and LIRA draws are fully taxable. TFSA and GIS are tax-free. Ontario surtax modelled. Quebec excluded.

Income splitting — Both spouses 65+ can pool eligible income 50/50. Includes RRIF draws, employer pension, CPP/OAS. CPP Pension Sharing separately available as a checkbox.

Withdrawal order — RRSP/RRIF → TFSA (when depleted or bracket opt triggered) → Non-Reg. LIRA draws happen before retirement draws and flow into RRSP.

RRSP contribution room — Tracked per spouse when set. Spousal RRSP contributions consume the contributor's room. Set to 0 for unlimited (default).

RRIF minimums — Mandatory at 72+. Starting at 5.28% rising to 20% at 95+. Enforced above the spending goal — excess goes to TFSA/Non-Reg.

LIF maximums — CRA schedule ~6.4% at 54 rising to 20% at 95+. Calculator always draws the maximum to drain the LIRA as fast as possible.

CPP2 — Auto-calculated from contribution years since 2024. Same early/late adjustments as CPP. Prorated by years ÷ 40.

GIS — Tax-free. Clawed back 50¢/dollar of other income. Calculated before the RRSP solver so the solver draws less RRSP when GIS covers part of the goal.

Provincial health premium — ON/BC only. Income-based, max ~$900/yr per person inflation-indexed. Added to tax after the RRSP solver.

Smoothing — Three-pass: baseline rates → target average → re-run adjusted. Reduces tax rate swings between meltdown and post-meltdown years.

Survivor years — On death: all assets roll to survivor tax-free. Single filer — no splitting. CPP/OAS stop. Survivor pension % applies. Spending goal × survivor % × life stage multipliers.

Not modelled — Employment income during retirement, CPP death benefit, probate fees, estate costs. Net worth mixes pre-tax RRSP and post-tax TFSA dollars — actual spendable wealth is lower than shown.