Frequently asked questions

Answers to common questions. If yours isn’t here, choose Help ▸ Email Support… in the app.

General

Is Retirement Planner financial advice?

No. It is a planning tool: every figure is an estimate based on the assumptions you enter. Benefit amounts, tax and investment returns will differ in real life. Talk to a qualified financial planner or tax professional before making decisions. See Legal notices.

Can I use it outside Canada?

No. The tax and benefit rules are Canadian: federal and provincial tax, CPP and QPP, OAS, GIS, RRSP, RRIF and TFSA. Other countries’ pensions, accounts and taxes are not modelled.

Does it work in French?

Yes. The app follows your Mac’s language: with French (Canada) as the preferred language in System Settings ▸ General ▸ Language & Region, it is in French. Clients in Quebec are planned with QPP rules in either language.

How many clients and strategies can I have?

Pro: 2 clients with up to 3 strategies each. Advisor: no limits. See Plans and purchases.

Income sources

Why is OAS zero?

Check the years lived in Canada on the OAS tab of the client’s profile: fewer than 10 means no OAS, and a new client starts with none entered. Also check the Benefits Age on the strategy’s OAS tab, and the clawback at high incomes. See OAS.

Why is GIS lower than I expected, or zero?

GIS goes down by 50 cents for every dollar of other taxable income, so CPP, pensions and RRSP or RRIF withdrawals reduce it. For a married client, the spouse’s income counts too. TFSA withdrawals don’t. See GIS.

Does the RRSP turn into a RRIF automatically?

Yes. The minimum RRIF withdrawals start at the RRIF start age on the RRSP tab — 72 by default — and are always respected. You can convert earlier, all or part of the RRSP. See RRSP and RRIF.

Where do I enter salary before retirement?

The projection covers retirement income, so salary isn’t entered as income. It is used only to estimate CPP contributions (on the profile’s CPP tab) and the RRSP contribution limit. Model savings before retirement as contributions on the RRSP, TFSA and Investments tabs.

Results

Why don’t I see the budget line or the plan status?

The strategy needs a budget, and Show budget must be ticked. The status isn’t shown on the Net worth chart. See Budget.

Why doesn’t the Household checkbox appear?

It appears once the client has a spouse in their profile and the strategy has a Linked spouse strategy. Both spouses also need a birthdate. See Household mode.

Why are pension-splitting savings zero?

Only eligible pension income can be split: a workplace pension, and RRIF withdrawals from 65. If neither spouse has any in a year, or splitting doesn’t lower the tax, the saving is zero.

My net worth goes below zero. Is something wrong?

No: the strategy draws more than the accounts can sustain. Lower the budget or the withdrawals, defer CPP and OAS, or run Align Income to Budget.

Why does the stress test give a slightly different result each time?

Each run draws new random futures. With 500 iterations, results can differ by a few points; 5,000 iterations give a steadier figure.

Can I compare strategies of two different clients?

No: the Compare tab and Compare with both work with the selected client’s strategies. For a couple, compare as a household. See Comparing strategies.

Tax

How accurate is the tax?

It uses the published federal and provincial brackets, the basic personal, age and pension amounts, dividend credits and the OAS recovery tax. For typical retirement income it is close to what a return would show. Credits that depend on personal circumstances, like medical expenses or donations, are not included. See How taxes are estimated.

How are tax rates kept up to date?

The app checks for new figures at most once a week and downloads them in the background. No app update is needed.

Data

Where is my data, and is it backed up?

In one file on your Mac, with a daily copy of the previous day’s data in a backups folder. Time Machine includes it too. Use Backup ... for a copy you keep yourself. See Where your data is kept.

Can I use the same data on two Macs?

Move it with Backup ... and Restore ..., or combine data with Import & Merge .... On the Advisor plan, you can keep the file in a shared or synced folder.

Can I export the numbers to a spreadsheet?

Yes. Right-click any table and choose Copy as CSV or Save as CSV…. See The table view.

How do I report a problem?

Choose Help ▸ Email Support…. The message is addressed to support and includes your app and macOS versions; attach the log file it mentions, which Help ▸ Reveal Log Folder in Finder opens.