How much do you need to retire? A quick estimate.
Five questions, one honest ballpark: your spending, your benefits, your timeline, how long the plan runs and the savings gap that leaves.
Uses the same 2026 CRA rules as the TruePath engine. Rules current as of January 2026.
Question 1 of 5
Groceries, housing, insurance, fun: the number that actually leaves your account. Guess honestly; you can refine it later.
This quick estimate does not apply provincial income tax. Where you live changes the tax on your withdrawals, which the full TruePath plan works out for you.
What this quick tool leaves out
This is deliberately rough: it works in after-tax dollars and one average return. It cannot know that a $500,000 RRSP is not $500,000 of spending money, or when your CPP should start. TruePath builds the real version from your actual accounts, after tax, for both spouses.
Questions people ask
What assumptions does this estimate use?
A 4% net investment return, 2.5% inflation (about a 1.5% real return) and a plan that runs to whatever end age you set, 95 by default. The return and inflation figures match the TruePath engine's defaults, which follow FP Canada style guidance.
Why does the end age matter so much?
Because it sets how many years your savings have to stretch. Age 95 is the default guard rail, since outliving your money is the expensive mistake, but you can slide the end age from 80 to 100 to see how much the number moves. It is a horizon to plan against, not a prediction.
Is the result in today's dollars?
Yes. The math uses a real (after-inflation) return, so the answer reads in today's purchasing power rather than inflated future dollars.
Why is my number different from the $1.7 million headlines?
Survey headlines report what people believe they need. Your number comes from your spending minus your benefits over your years, which is usually a very different figure and often a smaller one.
This was the quick version. See it on your real accounts.
TruePath runs these rules across every year of your retirement, after tax, for both spouses, and explains the result in plain English. Fourteen days free.