The retirement planner estimates your financial resources at retirement based on your current age and planned retirement age, and determines if you will have enough to meet your financial goals.

The calculations assume that the annual earnings will grow at this rate each year until retirement.

It’s hard to estimate how long we will live. One approach is to plan for income until the end of your life expectancy plus a contingency of a few years.

Include expected gross earnings from employment or self-employment for the current year. You can also include net rental income and alimony received if applicable. The retirement planner selects by default a retirement income goal based on earnings. You can change this on the Goals tab.

Enter the current balance in your company pension plan or individual pension plan (i.e., the market value of these assets).

This amount may also include bank accounts, bonds, term deposits, stocks or mutual funds that you intend to use specifically as a source of income for retirement.

Enter the monthly savings you are currently contributing to a company pension plan or individual pension plan (including employer and any voluntary contributions).

You can account for lump sum payments you expect to receive in the future. These may include an inheritance, gift, insurance settlement, or proceeds from the sale of an asset such as a property, stock options or retiring allowance. The amounts entered here should be after-tax amounts or amounts not subject to tax.

Also enter the year you expect to receive this amount. If the year is not known, enter a year when the payment is almost certain to have occurred.

Enter the monthly amount you expect to receive from the Social Insurance Pension. The actual amount you will receive depends on the number of contributions you have made. Contact the Social Insurance Department for more information.

A defined benefit pension plan provides income during retirement based on a formula that usually takes into account earnings and years of service with the employer.

If you have a defined benefit pension plan, you should enter the projected monthly pension payable at the age you expect to start receiving the pension. You will find this information on your most recent annual statement from the pension plan.

Annual cost-of-living – Some pension plans provide cost-of living adjustments, sometimes called indexing, to protect the pension against inflation. Adjustments follow a preset formula linked to the Consumer Price Index (or CPI).

If you plan to earn additional income to top up your savings during retirement, enter the income you expect to receive each year, and the starting and ending year during which you will receive the income.

If you select an annual amount for the retirement income goal, formulate it also in terms of today’s dollars even if you are many years from retirement. The calculations adjust the income for inflation between now and when you reach retirement to provide an income that has the same purchasing power as today.

Annual withdrawals throughout retirement

With this option, your account will remain invested and you will receive payments directly from the account. The maximum drawdown rate from registered pension funds is prescribed by the Pension Commission. The payments will be variable based on investment returns and your age. In the event of death, the balance of the account is payable to your beneficiary.

Annuity Options

An annuity is a contract with a life insurance company that provides periodic income for life in exchange for a lump sum amount called "premium".

The premium will be the amount that you have accumulated in your pension and/or savings account through your working years. The periodic amount that you will receive is based on your age, the total premium amount, current interest rates and other assumptions and the guarantees that come with the payments, such as paying the annuity for a minimum number of years.