15. Frequently Asked Questions#

General#

Q: Is this app a substitute for professional financial advice?

No. Retirement Planner is a projection and planning tool. All figures — income, tax, net worth, success rates — are estimates based on the assumptions you enter. They are not guarantees, certified tax calculations, or investment recommendations. Tax rules, government benefit amounts, and investment returns will differ from projections. Always consult a qualified financial planner, tax professional, or investment advisor before making retirement planning decisions.

Q: Can I use this app for US clients or clients outside Canada?

No. The tax and benefit calculations are built specifically for the Canadian system — federal and provincial income tax brackets, CPP, OAS, GIS, RRSP/RRIF rules, and TFSA. The app does not model US Social Security, 401(k), IRA, or any other non-Canadian retirement account or tax regime.

Q: How many clients and strategies can I have?

This depends on your subscription tier:

Personal is designed for individuals modelling a single scenario for themselves. Pro adds a second client and up to three strategies each, so couples can model both partners and compare scenarios side by side. Advisor removes all limits for financial professionals managing multiple client files.

Q: Where is my data stored? Is it backed up?

All client data is stored locally on your Mac in a file managed by the app. It is not uploaded to any server. The file is located in your Mac’s Application Support folder. If you use iCloud Drive or a Time Machine backup, the data file is included in those backups automatically as long as the Application Support folder is within their scope. It is strongly recommended to use Time Machine or another backup solution to protect client data.

Q: How do I report a bug or request a feature?

Use the Help menu within the app to access support options. You can also reach the developer at the contact address listed on the App Store product page.

Income Sources#

Q: Why does my OAS show zero for several years?

OAS only begins at the start age set in the strategy’s OAS tab. If the start age is 70 and the projection begins at 60, OAS will show $0 for the first ten years. This is by design — deferring OAS to 70 increases the monthly benefit by 36% compared to taking it at 65.

Also check the Canadian residency years field on the OAS tab. A full OAS benefit requires 40 years of Canadian residency after age 18. If residency years are set below 40, the benefit is prorated. At fewer than 10 years of residency, no OAS is payable.

Q: Why is my GIS lower than expected, or zero?

GIS is a benefit for low-income seniors and is reduced dollar-for-dollar (approximately) as other income rises. If the strategy includes CPP, RRSP/RRIF withdrawals, pension income, or other taxable income, GIS will be partially or fully clawed back. GIS is calculated based on the combined net annual income, not just one source.

TFSA withdrawals do not count as income for GIS purposes, which is why TFSA drawdown strategies can significantly increase GIS eligibility for lower-income retirees.

If GIS shows zero, verify that the Enable GIS checkbox is checked in the GIS strategy tab, and that OAS is also enabled and has started.

Q: Why does CPP show zero before age 60?

CPP can be taken as early as age 60 (at a reduced rate) or deferred up to age 70 (at an increased rate). If the start age in the CPP tab is set to 65, the projection will show $0 for CPP before age 65. Adjust the CPP start age in the strategy to model early or deferred taking.

Q: Can I model a spouse who has no CPP or OAS?

Yes. Simply leave CPP and OAS disabled in the spouse’s strategy. The household view will still combine all other income sources. GIS for the spouse can still be modelled independently if applicable.

Q: What happens to the RRSP in the projection — does it automatically convert to a RRIF?

The app models RRSP and RRIF as a single account. The RRSP balance you enter is drawn down according to the withdrawal schedule you configure in the RRSP tab. The app applies mandatory minimum RRIF withdrawal rules once the account has converted to a RRIF — by default at age 71, the legal deadline, or earlier if you set an earlier conversion age on the RRSP tab (see Section 7.8). You do not need to manually enter a RRIF — the account transitions automatically within the projection.

Tax#

Q: How accurate are the tax calculations?

The tax model uses the published 2025 Canadian federal and provincial bracket rates, credits, and thresholds. It includes the basic personal amount, age amount, pension income credit, and OAS recovery tax. For most retirement income scenarios — pension, RRSP/RRIF withdrawals, CPP, OAS, TFSA — the estimate will be reasonably close to actual tax owing.

The model does not handle every tax situation. It does not model capital gains from property sales, foreign income, charitable donation credits, medical expense credits, spousal RRSP income attribution, or Alternative Minimum Tax. For clients with complex tax situations, treat the app’s figures as a directional estimate and verify with a tax professional.

Tax parameters are updated automatically from the developer’s server (see section 10.5).

Q: How often are tax rates updated?

The app checks for updated tax parameters once per week when an internet connection is available. Updates are downloaded silently in the background — no action is required. When new rates are downloaded (typically after a federal or provincial budget), the projections recalculate automatically. The parameters shipped with the app are used until the first update is received, and during offline use.

Q: Why is the tax shown in the Income After Tax chart different from what I expect?

A few common causes:

• Province of residence — provincial tax rates vary widely. Confirm the correct province is set on the client profile.
• Age credits — the age amount and pension credit only apply at 65 and older. In pre-65 years the tax will be higher.
• OAS clawback — if net income exceeds $93,454, OAS benefits are clawed back at 15%, which effectively raises the marginal tax rate.
• Ontario surtax or health premium — Ontario residents pay additional levies that can noticeably increase total tax at moderate income levels.

Charts and Analysis#

Q: Why does the Household checkbox not appear in the toolbar?

The Household checkbox is hidden until three conditions are all met: (1) the primary client has a spouse linked in their profile, (2) the active strategy has a spouse strategy selected, and (3) both clients have a birthdate set. Check each of these in the client editor and strategy settings. Once all three are in place the checkbox will appear automatically.

Q: Why are my pension split tax savings showing as zero?

Pension income splitting only applies to eligible income — pension/annuity payments and RRSP/RRIF withdrawals at age 65 or older. If neither partner has eligible pension income in a given year, there is nothing to split and savings will be zero. Also confirm that Household mode is enabled and both partners have income entered in their respective strategies.

Q: My net worth is going negative — is something wrong?

Not necessarily. A declining and eventually negative net worth means the strategy’s withdrawals are exhausting the portfolio. This is the simulation telling you the plan needs adjustment — not a data error. Common remedies are: reduce the annual budget, defer CPP or OAS to increase guaranteed income, reduce RRSP withdrawals in early years, or reduce the real estate appreciation assumption if it is inflating net worth unrealistically. The Stress Test (section 11) is the most rigorous way to evaluate how resilient the plan is against a range of outcomes.

Q: What is the difference between the two stress test success definitions?

Net worth stays positive counts a scenario as successful if the portfolio never reaches zero at any age. Annual income meets budget is stricter — it counts a scenario successful only if projected income meets or exceeds the budget in every single year. A plan can have positive net worth but still fail the income test if drawdown sequencing leaves a shortfall in some years. Wealth covers budget (adaptive draws) sits between the two: it ignores your configured withdrawal schedule and asks whether your assets could fund the budget if drawn optimally. See Section 12.4 for a full explanation.

Q: Why is the stress test success rate different every time I run it?

Monte Carlo simulation involves randomness — each run draws a new set of random return scenarios. At 500 iterations, natural variation between runs can produce results that differ by a few percentage points. At 5,000 iterations the result stabilises significantly. Use 5,000 iterations when you need a consistent, presentable figure.

Q: Can I compare strategies across different clients?

Not directly — the comparison dropdown only lists strategies belonging to the same client. To compare plans across clients (for example, two spouses modelled as separate clients before linking them), review each client’s chart independently or link them as spouses and use Household mode to see the combined picture.

Data and Technical#

Q: The chart looks blank or shows no data — what should I do?

This usually means the income calculations have not run yet, or the strategy has no income sources entered. Make sure at least one income source tab has data entered and that the strategy settings (retirement age, life expectancy) are filled in. Switching away from and back to the chart view will trigger a recalculation.

Q: The app is slow when switching between clients. Is that normal?

When you switch to a client, the app recalculates the full income projection for the selected strategy. For strategies with many income sources, a large age range, or Household mode active, this can take a moment. On Apple Silicon Macs this is typically instant; on older Intel hardware you may notice a brief pause. Running the stress test at 5,000 iterations is the most CPU-intensive operation and may take several seconds on older machines.

Q: Can I export my data to Excel or another application?

Yes, in two ways:

• From the Table view, use the copy-to-clipboard or export-as-CSV buttons in the top-right corner of the table to export the full year-by-year projection data.
• The Client Report PDF can be opened in Preview and printed or saved, and the tables within it can be selected and copied in some PDF readers.

There is no direct export of the underlying client data file to a spreadsheet format.