Retirement & Estate for Canadians

Full Monte Carlo retirement simulation with Canadian tax modeling — TFSA / RRSP / RRIF / OAS clawback, stress tests, and AI analysis.

Compare taking CPP at 60, 65, or 70 — breakeven age, lifetime totals, and how delaying boosts your monthly cheque.

Mandatory annual RRIF withdrawal percentages by age, projected income, and withholding tax on amounts above the minimum.

Find the split of eligible pension income (up to 50%) that minimizes a couple’s combined tax — verified 2026 federal + provincial brackets.

Guaranteed income for life vs flexibility and an estate — see how long a RRIF would last at the same income as an annuity quote.

See how much Old Age Security you keep at your income level, where the recovery tax kicks in, and how to stay under the threshold.

A fast top-line estimate of the nest egg you need to retire in Canada at your target spending — then dive into the full planner.

See the guaranteed monthly income a given amount could buy from a Canadian life annuity, and how age and rates change the payout.

Weigh taking the commuted (lump-sum) value of a defined-benefit pension against keeping the lifetime monthly payments.

Test how long your portfolio lasts at different withdrawal rates, with sequence-of-returns risk factored in.

Your FIRE number, the year you reach it at your current pace, and your Coast FIRE number — in today’s dollars, with honest real-return defaults.

The share of income you keep — and exactly how many working years it buys. The income-independent math behind FIRE, with the classic rate-to-years table.

The portfolio that funds retirement by your target age with zero further saving — your coast number, your gap to it, and when you’d cross it at your current pace.

Everything you own minus everything you owe, in Canadian categories — with the split most trackers skip: investable net worth vs the home equity that can’t pay your bills.

A quick score of how on-track you are to retire, based on savings, age, spending, and expected CPP/OAS.

Estimate the probate fee on an estate in any province — from $0 in Manitoba to over $16,000 in Nova Scotia on a $1M estate. Sourced 2026 schedules.

Estimate the income tax the deemed disposition triggers at death — capital gains at 50% plus the full RRSP/RRIF, at your province’s marginal rates, with the spousal rollover.

Which account to draw down first — RRSP/RRIF, TFSA, or non-registered — to minimize lifetime tax and OAS clawback.

The case for taking CPP at 60 vs 65 vs 70 — health, other income, breakeven math, and survivor benefits.

Every 2026 CPP deposit date, when the money lands each month, and how the annual inflation increase is applied.

How your CPP amount is worked out — contribution years, the YMPE, the 39-year maximum, and the dropout provisions.

How to coordinate CPP and OAS timing — deferral to 70, the OAS clawback, and when starting them at different ages pays off.

How the OAS recovery tax works, the income threshold, and concrete strategies to reduce or avoid it.

The age-71 deadline, mandatory minimum withdrawals, withholding tax, and how to convert on your own terms.

How couples can shift eligible pension income to the lower-earning spouse to cut household tax and protect OAS.

Safe withdrawal rates, sequence-of-returns risk, and the bucket strategy — stress-tested against Canadian data.

Everything to line up before you retire — CPP/OAS timing, drawdown plan, healthcare, estate, and tax.

When a life annuity makes sense, how payouts are set, and the trade-off between guaranteed income and flexibility.

How locked-in retirement accounts and Life Income Funds work, including minimums, maximums, and unlocking rules.

How to weigh a defined-benefit pension’s commuted value against lifetime payments — longevity, rates, and taxes.

The difference between DB and DC workplace pensions, who carries the risk, and what each means for your retirement.

Why a bad market early in retirement hurts far more than the same returns later — and how to defend against it.

Splitting your portfolio into cash, income, and growth buckets to ride out downturns without selling low.

Drawing down an RRSP early to smooth lifetime tax and dodge a big RRIF/OAS-clawback hit later in retirement.

The government-verified rules every retire-abroad listicle skips — the OAS 20-year line, departure tax and its exemptions, 25% withholding, the TFSA traps, and when your health card dies.

The portfolio you need at each age, with horizon-honest withdrawal rates — plus the CPP fine print, the benefits gap before 65, and what funds the bridge.

No penalty at any age — just withholding that’s only a deposit, room that never returns, and a three-year spousal trap. The rules and when withdrawing early is the smart move.

Funding early retirement before CPP and OAS arrive — the account order, the meltdown window, benefit timing, and the cash tiers that survive a bad first decade.

Median AND average net worth by age, straight from StatCan’s Survey of Financial Security — plus the homeowner/pension splits and the fresher quarterly averages.

Financial independence translated for Canada — the RRSP-without-penalty edge, the TFSA, every FIRE variant, the bridge years before CPP/OAS, and the honest criticisms.

Willful vs Epilogue vs LegalWills.ca — Canada’s online will platforms compared on price, documents, and Quebec coverage. From $49.95.

A factor-by-factor head-to-head of Canada’s two best-known online will services — price, documents, couples, and Quebec.

No inheritance tax — but the deemed disposition at death and probate fees can cost thousands. Wills, POAs, beneficiary designations, and how to cut the bill.

What it costs to validate a will in every province and territory — $0 in Manitoba to over $16,000 in Nova Scotia on a $1M estate. Sourced schedules + worked examples.

No inheritance tax — but death deems your assets sold and cashes out your whole RRSP/RRIF on the final return. How the tax bomb works and how to defuse it.

The executor’s step-by-step: probate, valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, the clearance certificate, and distributing — plus the timeline and the personal-liability traps.

Everything an executor must do and when — from locating the will to final distribution, including the common-law “executor’s year” and notifying Service Canada.

Filing the final T1 for someone who died — the deadlines, the balance-owing payment date, and the three optional returns that can cut the tax.

Why an executor must get a clearance certificate (Form TX19) before distributing — and the personal liability for unpaid tax if they don’t.

What happens to registered accounts at death — the successor annuitant and successor holder rules, the qualifying-survivor rollover, and what gets taxed.