Retirement Gap Solver

Planning Inputs

Review the copied or entered retirement inputs, choose scenarios, then calculate the gap analysis.

The CLARITY Framework™ lens: This tool connects the Cash Flow, Assets, Retirement Readiness, Tax Optimization, and You pillars. Use it to review planning assumptions, not to treat one projection as a guaranteed outcome.

Personal Information

Retirement Time Horizon

These ages set the accumulation period and the retirement income projection period.

Year of birth Current age Retirement age Life expectancy

Planning Context

These fields help estimate contribution room, tax assumptions, and the retirement spending target.

Current annual income Province / territory After-tax retirement spending goal

Savings & Investments

Each main account starts with a beginning balance, receives contributions during the selected years, and grows using its selected investor profile. Contribution-room limits are not validated here.

TFSA

Beginning balance Annual contribution Starts Ends Investor profile

RRSP / RRIF

Beginning balance Annual contribution Starts Ends Investor profile

Non-registered Savings

Taxable investment balance and additional annual savings modelled outside registered accounts.

Beginning balance Annual contribution Starts Ends Investor profile

DC Pension / Group Plan

Beginning balance Employee annual amount Employee % of income % Starts Ends Employer match method Employer match % of income % Employer match amount Investor profile

Other Investment Assets

Beginning balance Investor profile

Windfall or Inheritance

One-time addition to non-registered retirement capital, if applicable.

Amount Year received

Pensions & Government Benefits

CPP/QPP, OAS, and pension entries are user-entered planning estimates. Eligibility, indexing, survivor benefits, clawbacks, and start-age decisions can materially affect real outcomes.

CPP/QPP

Choose how to enter your CPP/QPP estimate. The calculator shows one estimated monthly amount based on the selected method and start age.

Pension type Estimate method Estimated % of maximum % CPP/QPP start age

Estimated monthly amount at start age $0

For % of maximum, this model uses a maximum monthly age-65 amount of $1,507.65. CPP can start from 60 to 70; QPP can start from 60 to 72. This is an educational estimate only.

Old Age Security

OAS estimate before detailed clawback modelling. The residency percentage is a simplified educational estimate and requires source verification against official rules.

Maximum monthly OAS Years resident in Canada after age 18

Estimated OAS eligibility 100%

This model estimates OAS eligibility as years of Canadian residence after age 18 divided by 40, capped at 100%. It is for illustrative and educational purposes only.

Employer Pension

Defined benefit or other pension income that starts at the entered age and frequency.

Pension amount Start age Frequency

Gap Solver Scenarios

These scenario levers are compared after the same baseline inputs are calculated. They are educational tests, not recommendations.

Tax & Withdrawal Settings

Withdrawal settings affect which accounts are drawn first and how simplified taxable income is estimated. This is a planning model, not a full tax optimization engine.

RRSP to RRIF conversion age Minimum RRIF/LIF withdrawals Withdrawal order setting

Scenarios to compare

Select the planning changes to compare against the base case. Each scenario uses the changed assumption shown inside its card.

Retire later Test one later retirement age against the same baseline inputs. Retirement age to test

Save more before retirement Estimate the effect of additional annual savings before retirement. Extra annual savings

Spend less in retirement Estimate the effect of a lower after-tax spending goal. Retirement goal to test

Combined adjustment Test a balanced mix after the individual scenarios are calculated.

If any individual scenario closes the gap, Combined tests a smaller delay and partial extra savings without lowering the retirement goal. If none closes the gap, it applies the entered scenario assumptions together.

Step 1 of 6

Review the inputs, choose scenarios, then click Calculate to view gap analysis.

Retirement Gap Analysis

Review the base case, then compare selected scenarios.

Base case results

Projection answer

Add details and calculate.

Present value of projected shortfalls: $0

Essential disclosure

Educational scenario analysis only. Results depend on entered values, simplified tax and benefit modelling, return and inflation assumptions, selected scenario assumptions, and the selected withdrawal order. This is not financial, tax, legal, investment, pension, estate, insurance, or retirement advice.

Scenario projection details

The detailed comparison below supports the scenario summary above.

Detailed projection scenario

Accumulation Phase

Estimated assets at retirement $0 Projected investment assets before retirement income begins.

Registered $0

TFSA $0

Non-registered / other $0

Run the calculator to see the accumulation path before retirement.

Run the calculator to see the projected account balances at retirement.

Retirement Income Phase

Chart view

Bars show pension/benefit income and account withdrawals by source. The line shows the after-tax spending goal plus estimated tax, so it is the modelled before-tax cashflow needed to leave the spending goal after tax.

Show projection data table

Assumptions Used in This Projection

Run the calculator to see the key assumptions used in this projection.

Show disclosure and methodology

How this calculator works

This calculator illustrates how different retirement ages, savings assumptions, pension income sources, and withdrawal patterns can affect long-term retirement sustainability under stated assumptions. Different return assumptions, inflation rates, retirement ages, CPP/QPP timing decisions, and spending levels can be entered to compare how sensitive the projection is to changing conditions.

Assumptions Disclosure

Current Assumptions & Settings

Ages are modelled as whole-year ages using 2026 as the current year; birth year and current age are linked by simple subtraction.
CPP/QPP is assumed to start at age 65 unless changed. Starting at age 65 applies no actuarial reduction or enhancement.
OAS is modelled from age 65. If retirement begins before CPP/QPP, OAS, or DB pension start ages, those income sources are zero until their modelled start ages.
Projected income, spending goals, contributions, and benefits are generally modelled in nominal dollars and may increase annually with the entered inflation assumptions.

Projection Methodology

Projections use deterministic annual modelling with no market volatility and no intra-year cash-flow timing.
Account balances grow once per projection year before that year's retirement withdrawals are modelled.

Accumulation Phase Assumptions

Existing assets grow once per projection year before that year's TFSA, RRSP, non-registered savings, and any windfall/inheritance amount are added.
If current age is at or above the selected retirement age, the model treats retirement as starting now and suppresses the pre-retirement accumulation phase.
Contributions apply inclusively between the entered start and end years.
Account returns are weighted from the selected allocation and entered equity/fixed-income return assumptions.
Non-registered turnover is assumed to be 0% unless changed in the Assumptions section. When a turnover rate is entered, the model applies a simplified annual tax drag to positive non-registered growth using a 50% taxable capital-gain inclusion assumption.
Broader planning assets such as a home, cottage, land, and business equity are tracked separately from investment assets and are not treated as spendable retirement capital in this version.
Business equity entries model only equity holdings using user-entered FMV, ACB, and growth assumptions. Operating business income, shareholder remuneration, corporate tax, legal structure, succession planning, transaction costs, and business-owner planning are not modelled.
Non-registered withdrawals are treated as spendable after-tax capital in the retirement cash-flow model. The calculator does not track adjusted cost base or calculate the exact taxable gain on each withdrawal.

Retirement Phase Assumptions

The retirement target is treated as an after-tax retirement spending goal, not gross taxable income.
Registered-account withdrawals, pension income, CPP/QPP, OAS, DC/LIF withdrawals, and Other withdrawals are treated as taxable in this simplified model. TFSA and non-registered withdrawals are treated as spendable after-tax capital.
Taxable withdrawals are estimated and grossed up as needed so modelled after-tax available income can approximate the after-tax retirement spending goal.
The retirement income chart compares pension/benefit income and account withdrawals against the after-tax spending goal plus estimated taxes.

Withdrawal Order Setting

The selected setting controls the account order or proportional rule used to estimate withdrawals while applying configured account rules and minimum withdrawals.
Preserve TFSA uses non-registered assets first and TFSA last; proportional withdrawals draw from available accounts by balance.
Registered drawdown before 72 uses registered/DC assets first before the modelled minimum-withdrawal start age, normally 72, then returns to the preserve-TFSA order after minimum withdrawals begin. Smooth taxable income uses simple registered/DC draws before that same start age. Minimize current-year tax favours TFSA before taxable withdrawals.
After-tax surplus from pension income, minimum withdrawals, or pre-minimum registered drawdowns is assumed to be saved into non-registered investments rather than spent.

Scenario Analysis

Scenario analysis changes only the scenario assumptions shown in the Scenarios tab while keeping the other entered inputs the same.
The base case stays visible as the headline result; the selected detail scenario updates the accumulation phase, retirement income chart, projection table, print report, and CSV export.
Remaining present-value shortfall and present-value reduction are measured against the base case. Present value means projected future shortfalls discounted using the entered retirement withdrawal return.
Retire later tests the retirement age entered in the Scenarios tab.
Save more adds the entered annual amount to non-registered savings in each pre-retirement year.
Spend less tests the after-tax retirement spending goal entered in the Scenarios tab.
Combined adjustment is adaptive: if an individual scenario closes the gap, it tests a smaller delay and partial extra savings without lowering the retirement goal; if no individual scenario closes the gap, it applies the entered scenario assumptions together.

Tax Modelling Limitations

Tax uses simplified 2026 federal and selected provincial tax brackets and basic personal amount credits indexed annually using the model's tax indexing assumption.
Tax rates are not indexed.
Other credits, deductions, surtaxes, OAS clawback, GIS, survivor benefits, and detailed dividend treatment are excluded.
Non-registered tax drag is simplified. It does not track adjusted cost base, actual distributions, realized gains by security, capital-loss carryforwards, foreign withholding tax, or personal deduction/credit interactions. Non-registered withdrawals are not separately taxed as income in this version.

Professional Disclaimer

This calculator uses simplified assumptions and does not provide personalized financial, tax, legal, accounting, investment, retirement, estate, insurance, mortgage, or lending advice.
Actual outcomes may differ because of tax law changes, CPP/QPP and OAS rule changes, market returns, inflation uncertainty, sequence-of-returns risk, longevity uncertainty, health events, and personal circumstances.
Benefit estimates, tax assumptions, account balances, contribution room, and withdrawal rules should be reviewed in any personal planning discussion.

Display & Rounding

Currency values are rounded to whole dollars for display.
Percentages may be rounded to the displayed precision.

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Planning Inputs

Personal Information

Retirement Time Horizon

Planning Context

Savings & Investments

TFSA

RRSP / RRIF

Non-registered Savings

DC Pension / Group Plan

Other Investment Assets

Windfall or Inheritance

Assets

Existing Investments from Savings & Investments

Additional Investment Assets

Broader Planning Assets

Pensions & Government Benefits

CPP/QPP

Old Age Security

Employer Pension

Return & Inflation Assumptions

Gap Solver Scenarios

Tax & Withdrawal Settings

Scenarios to compare

Help improve this calculator