You enter what you know. We apply visible assumptions. The tools show an educational estimate. You decide what to explore next.
Last updated July 27, 2026
From your information to an estimate
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What you enter
Your age, savings, income, spending, accounts and other information you provide.
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Assumptions are applied
Returns, inflation, planning margins and other uncertain figures are shown separately.
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The tool calculates an estimate
This may be a smooth projection, a range of outcomes or a year-by-year illustration.
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You explore your choices
Change assumptions, compare alternatives and decide what fits your life.
Facts, assumptions, calculations and judgment are deliberately kept separate.
How certain is the estimate?
Modelled estimate
Your information fits the calculation being used. The result is still an estimate—not a guarantee or official determination.
Directional estimate
The result can help with direction and approximate scale, but some important details are simplified or unavailable.
Not modelled
The tool does not currently calculate this item. Something not modelled should never be interpreted as zero.
Greater complexity does not necessarily mean greater certainty.
Why figures may differ
A Quick Forecast, a portfolio simulation and a detailed retirement cash-flow projection should not always produce the same number. They answer different questions.
A smooth forecast shows one consistent set of assumptions.
A portfolio simulation shows a range when investment returns vary.
An income calculation tests how spending and withdrawals interact over time.
A Canadian cash-flow illustration follows benefits, accounts and withdrawals year by year.
A difference does not automatically mean one result is wrong. It often means the tools are answering different questions.
Choose an estimate to understand
Quick ForecastA fast, smooth illustration of where your current momentum may be taking you.
Best used for: Establishing a first retirement goal and seeing whether current saving appears broadly aligned with it.
How it works: Uses your timing, savings, income and spending information with constant annual assumptions.
Investment return: Begins with the applicable starting-portfolio estimate, less estimated costs and a separate planning margin.
What it shows: A central projection rather than a probability range.
What it does not show: Changing market returns, detailed account taxation or every possible retirement event.
Where to test it: Use Test the assumptions to change saving, spending, timing, returns, inflation and the planning margin.
Portfolio IllustrationShows how an investment mix could grow—and how widely outcomes might vary.
Best used for: Understanding the relationship between investment mix, expected return, volatility and possible outcomes.
How it works: Uses forward-looking asset-class assumptions, portfolio costs and modelled monthly variability.
What it shows: A median path and a range of modelled outcomes. The shaded range describes results from the model—not every outcome that could occur.
What it does not promise: A particular return, maximum loss or probability of reaching a goal.
Sources: Canadian-dollar and U.S.-dollar illustrations use their stated country-appropriate references. The sources are not blended indiscriminately.
Retirement PlannerBuilds a more detailed retirement cash-flow illustration.
Best used for: Exploring CPP, OAS, workplace pensions, spending, registered accounts and retirement timing.
How it works: Follows income, withdrawals and account balances through a deterministic year-by-year projection.
Benefits: Uses estimates entered or confirmed by you and applies published timing factors where supported.
Tax treatment: Tax-aware results are educational and directional. They do not prepare a tax return or determine eligibility.
Important confirmation: Confirm benefit eligibility, contribution history, residency, account ownership and tax results through official sources.
Retirement Income PlannerExplores the question: “How should I pay myself during retirement?”
Best used for: Comparing retirement-paycheque approaches and understanding pressure from longevity, inflation and market variability.
Approaches: Fund distributions, percentage withdrawals and funding a target amount.
How it works: Tests the selected income approach across modelled monthly return paths.
Withdrawal percentages: Figures such as 3.5%, 4.0% and 4.5% are comparison points—not safe rates or recommendations.
Distributions: Dividends and interest are part of total return and are not added again as extra investment performance.
What it does not show completely: Every tax rule, required withdrawal, future distribution change, mortality outcome or extreme market event.
Plan OverviewBrings compatible results from the other tools together.
The overview does not create a separate financial calculation. It identifies compatible saved information and presents existing results together.
If an underlying plan changes, the overview may need to be updated. Missing or incompatible information remains visible instead of being silently replaced.
Assumptions and sources
Assumption
How it is handled
Investment returns
Forward-looking estimates appropriate to the selected country and portfolio, or an assumption entered by you.
Investment costs
Shown separately where supported and deducted from the applicable gross return assumption.
Planning margin
An additional visible reduction intended to make the central projection more cautious. It is not a fee.
Inflation
Used to express future purchasing power in today’s money where stated.
Pension indexing
Each income source can be treated as indexed, partly indexed or not indexed.
Planning age
A planning horizon selected by you—not a prediction of lifespan.
Tax rules
Applied only within the stated Canadian scope and assumption year. Important decisions require confirmation.