How much do I need to save for retirement in Canada?

How much you need to save for retirement depends on your planned retirement age, expected spending, current savings, contribution rate, government benefits, inflation, and investment growth over time.

What does a retirement savings planner do?

A retirement savings planner helps estimate how much your portfolio could grow by retirement and whether your current savings plan appears to support your future income needs.

Should I include CPP and OAS in retirement planning?

Yes. CPP and OAS can form part of your retirement income, so including them can help create a more realistic retirement estimate.

What affects retirement projections the most?

Time, contribution rate, investment returns, inflation, fees, retirement age, and expected spending are some of the biggest factors affecting retirement projections.

Retirement Savings Planner

A professional-grade forecasting engine. Model your accumulation phase, sequence your decumulation hierarchy, and stress-test your strategy against Monte Carlo variance analysis.

For Educational & Planning Purposes Only

Timeline & Inflation

Current Age

Retire Age

Life Expectancy

Inflation Rate

Current Capital & Flow

TFSA Balance

TFSA Alloc %

RRSP Balance

RRSP Alloc %

Monthly Contrib

Employer Match / Mo

Retirement Target

Target Monthly Spend (In Today’s $)

CPP Monthly

CPP Age

OAS Monthly

OAS Age

Pre-Ret Return (Nominal)

Pre-Ret Volatility (σ)

Post-Ret Return (Nominal)

Post-Ret Volatility (σ)

MER / Fee Drag

Tax Drag (Taxable Only)

Liquidation Hierarchy

Annual Contrib. Bump

Monte Carlo Trials

Target Success Rate

Deterministic Outcome

Calculating…

Portfolio Trajectory

Monte Carlo Success Probability 0%

Depletion RiskSuccess

End Balance Dispersion

P10: $0 Median: $0 P90: $0

Retirement Savings Planner Canada Project savings, income, and retirement goals

Learn how it works

Retirement Savings Planner (Canada)

This retirement savings planner helps Canadians estimate how much they may need to save for retirement based on their age, target retirement date, current savings, future contributions, and expected income needs. It is designed to help you build a more realistic long-term plan by factoring in variables like inflation, investment growth, and government benefits such as CPP and OAS.

What this planner does

This calculator helps you estimate whether your current savings plan is on track for retirement. It allows you to model future contributions, project portfolio growth, and compare your estimated retirement resources against the income you may need later on.

It is useful for both early-stage planning and ongoing check-ins because it connects today’s decisions to a longer-term retirement target.

Why this planner is useful

Retirement planning gets easier when the numbers are organized in one place. Instead of guessing whether you are saving enough, this tool helps turn your retirement goal into a clearer plan based on timeline, contributions, and expected future needs.

It can also help you test different scenarios so you can see how changes in savings rate, retirement age, or assumptions may affect the outcome.

How to use the Retirement Savings Planner

Start by entering your current age, planned retirement age, current investment balances, and ongoing contributions. From there, add assumptions for expected investment growth, inflation, and estimated retirement spending. If you want a more complete picture, you can also include government benefits such as CPP and OAS.

Once the inputs are in place, the planner can estimate how much your portfolio could grow to by retirement and whether that amount appears to support your future income needs.

What affects retirement planning the most

A few variables have the biggest impact on retirement outcomes. Time matters because it gives compounding longer to work. Contributions matter because consistent saving builds the base. Investment returns can accelerate growth, while inflation and fees can reduce how far your money goes. Your retirement age and spending expectations also shape how much you may need.

Because of that, even small adjustments to your assumptions can change the final projection in a meaningful way.

Helpful next steps

After using the planner, it can help to refine the details around your retirement strategy. The CPP Income Estimator can help you build a better government benefit estimate, while the RRSP vs TFSA Decision Helper can help with account decisions. If you are still working on contribution room in your monthly budget, the Budget Planner Tool is a useful next step.

For broader background, you can also read Retirement Planning in Canada or compare account types in TFSA vs RRSP.

Planning note

This retirement planner provides estimates based on the assumptions you enter. Real-life outcomes will vary based on markets, inflation, contribution consistency, taxes, withdrawal decisions, and changes in your goals over time. It is best used as a planning tool to guide decisions, not as a guaranteed forecast.

Ready to start putting your retirement plan into motion?

Once you have a target and a plan, the next step is making sure your money is actually invested and working for you. If you are looking for a self-directed investing option in Canada, Questrade is one place to get started.

Open a Questrade Account

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