- Starting balance
- Initial balance that you have in your retirement accounts.
- Annual contributions
- The amount you will contribute to your retirement savings each year. This calculator assumes that you make your contribution at the beginning of each year. This should reflect the total you save toward your retirement. It should also include any retirement accounts such as an RRSP and any retirement savings in non-retirement accounts. This calculator assumes that you make one annual contribution at the start of each year, and any withdrawals happen once per month at the beginning of each month.
- Current age
- Your current age.
- Age at retirement
- Age you wish to retire. This calculator assumes that the year you retire, you do not make any contributions to your retirement savings. For example, if you retire at age 65, your last contribution occurs when you are actually age 64.
- Rate of return before retirement
- This is the annual rate of return you expect from your retirement savings and investments before taxes. The actual rate of return is largely dependent on the type of investments you select. For example, the total return including dividends of the S&P/TSX Composite Index for the 10 year period from December 31, 2013 through December 31, 2023 was 8.6% (source www.spglobal.com). Savings accounts at a bank or credit union may pay as little as 2% or less. It is important to remember that future rates of return can't be predicted with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return are subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your investment.
- Rate of return during retirement
- This is the annual rate of return you expect from your investments during retirement. It is often lower than the return earned before retirement due to more conservative investment choices to help insure a steady flow of income. The actual rate of return is largely dependent on the type of investments you select. For example, the total return including dividends of the S&P/TSX Composite Index for the 10 year period from December 31, 2013 through December 31, 2023 was 8.6% (source www.spglobal.com). Savings accounts at a bank or credit union may pay as little as 2% or less. It is important to remember that future rates of return can't be predicted with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return are subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your investment.
- Current tax rate
- Your current marginal tax rate you expect to pay on your taxable investments.
- Retirement tax rate
- The marginal tax rate you expect to pay on your investments at retirement.
- Expected inflation rate
- What you expect for the average long-term inflation rate.
- Years of retirement
- Number of years you expect to live in retirement.
- To increase deposits with inflation checkbox
- Check this box if you wish to have your annual contribution increased each year to keep up with inflation.
- If savings is tax-deferred checkbox
- Check this box if your retirement savings is being deposited into a tax-deferred account.
