RetirementPath

Method & sources

Useful for decisions. Honest about uncertainty.

This planner compares practical scenarios; it cannot guarantee the lowest tax or highest lifetime benefit. A lower tax bill does not always mean more lifetime income.

Inflation & purchasing power

Why there is no separate inflation input

RetirementPath is a real-dollar model. Every dollar amount you enter or see is expressed in today’s Canadian dollars, so it represents purchasing power rather than the larger number of dollars you may actually receive or spend in a future year.

Use real growth rates

Investment return is entered after inflation and fees. A 2% real return means purchasing power grows by 2% a year. Likewise, 0% real employment-income growth means pay keeps pace with inflation.

Fixed means inflation-linked

Spending, annual savings, cash, pensions, and other amounts without a growth input stay constant in today’s dollars. This effectively assumes they keep pace with inflation; unindexed pensions or idle cash may have less future purchasing power than shown.

Current rules remain a snapshot

2026 tax brackets, benefits, and contribution limits are applied in today’s-dollar terms. The planner does not forecast future law changes or year-to-year inflation.

One technical exception: a non-registered investment’s adjusted cost base is a nominal tax record. The planner uses a fixed 2.1% annual inflation assumption only to keep that cost base consistent with the real-dollar projection. This rate comes from FP Canada’s 2026 Projection Assumption Guidelines ; actual inflation will differ.

What the model includes

  • 2026 federal and provincial or territorial brackets; supported basic, age, pension, spouse, employment, and payroll credits
  • Employee CPP/QPP, EI, and QPIP contributions, including enhanced-plan income deductions
  • CPP timing factors from age 60–70; user-entered QPP timing for Quebec
  • OAS residence qualification, deferral, age-75 increase, recovery tax, and the related income deduction
  • Official July–September 2026 GIS formulas, household categories, and the employment-income exemption
  • RRSP deductions and room, household TFSA room, RRIF January 1 minimums, and the elected spouse-age basis
  • Separate cash, TFSA, and non-registered withdrawals with a dollar adjusted-cost-base ledger
  • Pension-income splitting in 5% steps and pension-credit treatment from age 65
  • A fixed 30% terminal tax assumption for registered assets, also applied to the taxable portion of latent non-registered gains

Material limits and assumptions

  • This is an annual real-dollar projection, not a complete tax return or a monthly entitlement calculation
  • Allowance, Allowance for the Survivor, CPP post-retirement benefits, CPP pension sharing, and exact birth-month proration are omitted
  • Exact spousal-RRSP attribution, locked-in account rules, and owner-specific partner RRSP contribution room are outside the model
  • Dividends, investment interest, fund distributions, foreign tax, and inter-year capital-loss use are not calculated
  • Many refundable, dependent, disability, medical, donation, and provincial low-income credits require facts the planner does not collect
  • GIS uses projected same-year income; normal July–June payments generally use prior-calendar-year income
  • The planner assumes Canadian citizenship and residence at OAS start; immigration, treaty, sponsorship, or existing partial-OAS cases require official review
  • Returns are smooth real-dollar assumptions, not a Monte Carlo forecast

Official rule references

OAS eligibility and residence When to start OAS CPP timing adjustments OAS recovery tax Line 23500 social-benefits repayment deduction 2026 income tax brackets CRA 2026 tax and payroll formulas 2026 federal and provincial TD1 credit forms Manitoba personal income-tax rates Quebec income-tax rates Quebec 2026 tax and contribution changes Quebec 2026 individual Health Services Fund parameters Capital gains and adjusted cost base 2026 CPP contribution rates and limits 2026 EI premium rates and maximums 2026 QPP contribution rates and limits 2026 QPIP employee premium 2026 RRSP and TFSA dollar limits How CRA calculates RRSP deduction room TFSA annual room and withdrawal restoration RRIF prescribed factors Pension income splitting RRSP withdrawal tax and withholding Spousal-RRSP attribution Official OAS/GIS estimator Official 2026 GIS amounts and cutoffs GIS eligibility and income rules Retirement income-estimate form (ISP-3041)
Educational estimate only.

Not financial, tax, legal, or immigration advice. Rules and amounts change. Verify CPP/QPP, OAS, GIS, residence, sponsorship, treaty, foreign-income, and pension situations with the responsible agency and a qualified professional. Rules reviewed July 17, 2026.