Learn
Real questions, from real Canadian lives. Answered simply.
You do not need to understand CPP timing or the OAS clawback to retire well. Start from your own situation, in your own words, and we will explain what actually matters, with 2026 numbers and worked examples.
Life happens
Retirement planning starts in real life, not in tax tables. Find your situation below, told in your own words.
Relationships
How do my same-sex partner and I plan for retirement?The reassuring answer: the same way any couple does. Since 2005 every federal retirement rule, CPP survivor pensions, pension i...Read the answerI just got divorced. What now?Divorce later in life splits more than a household. CPP contributions made during the relationship can be divided, RRSPs can tr...Read the answerMy spouse is much younger than me.A big age gap does not break a retirement plan, it doubles the timelines. One of you may retire while the other still works, go...Read the answerWe keep our finances separate. Can we still retire together?Yes, and the tax system already thinks the way you do. Canada taxes individuals, not households, so your accounts, contribution...Read the answer
Family
I want to help my adult children financially.Helping your kids is one of the most common goals Canadians bring to retirement planning, and the rules cooperate: Canada has n...Read the answerI want to pay for my grandchildren's education.Grandparents can absolutely open RESPs; the subscriber can be anyone. Contributions attract a 20% government match, up to $500...Read the answerLeaving an inheritance versus enjoying my retirement.Only you can answer this one, but the math can make it an informed choice. Most estates lose more to the final tax return than...Read the answerMy parents need financial help.Helping the people who once helped you, while your own retirement gets closer, is a real squeeze and a common one. Two things e...Read the answer
Career
I still enjoy working. What would retiring change?Retirement is not a deadline, and working because you want to is a position of strength, not a failure to plan. Every extra yea...Read the answerI want to retire early.Early retirement is three math problems stacked together: more years of spending, fewer years of saving and a gap before CPP an...Read the answerI was laid off at 58. What now?A layoff at 58 is rarely just about the next job. Often it is a retirement decision arriving years early, and sometimes it beco...Read the answerI'm self-employed with no pension.No pension does not mean no plan. It means your RRSP and TFSA are the pension, built one contribution at a time. You still earn...Read the answer
Housing
Can I retire with a mortgage?Yes, and you would not be alone: plenty of Canadians now carry a mortgage into retirement. The real question is whether your in...Read the answerI'm thinking about moving abroad.Moving abroad is as much a paperwork decision as a lifestyle one. Leaving Canada triggers a departure tax on non-registered gai...Read the answerRenting instead of owning in retirement.Renting in retirement is a legitimate plan, not a failure. It trades a surprise roof and property tax for one predictable month...Read the answerWhat downsizing my home frees up.If you are weighing a smaller place, you are in good company: it is one of the most common retirement moves in Canada. The hone...Read the answer
Health
Dementia runs in my family.Watching a parent go through dementia changes how you think about your own future, and family history is a reason to plan, not...Read the answerI can't work anymore because of my health.Leaving work because of your health is a retirement you did not choose, and it deserves a real plan, not just worry. The first...Read the answerI don't think I'll live to 90.Plenty of Canadians plan around a shorter horizon, and the math genuinely changes: taking CPP at 60 beats waiting if you do not...Read the answerI'm worried about long-term care costs.This is one of the most common retirement fears, and it is usually bigger in the imagination than on paper. Every province subs...Read the answer
Lifestyle
Can I afford to buy an RV?For most retirees who ask, the honest answer is yes, if the full cost is priced: purchase, insurance, storage, fuel, campsites,...Read the answerI want to retire somewhere warm.Warm can mean three very different plans: winters away, a milder part of Canada or a new country entirely. They touch taxes and...Read the answerI want to spend more now and leave less later.Wanting to enjoy your money while you have the health to enjoy it is a plan, not a confession. The fear is running out. The qui...Read the answerI want to travel every winter.Wanting winters somewhere warm is one of the most plannable wishes in retirement. Unlike a health surprise or a market dip, a s...Read the answer
The rules, explained
The reference shelf: what each rule is, the 2026 numbers and a worked example, checked against the same CRA rules the TruePath engine uses.
How much you need
How do I plan for a big purchase in retirement?Price a big one-time purchase by three things: the amount, the year you spend it and the account you fund it from. Cash or a TF...Read the answerHow much do I need to retire in Canada?There is no universal figure: what you need depends on your after-tax spending, not a number from a survey. CPP and OAS at the...Read the answerWhat is the average retirement income in Canada?Statistics Canada data puts the average after-tax income of senior families at roughly $74,000 a year. Singles typically live o...Read the answer
CPP
How much CPP will I actually get?The 2026 CPP maximum at 65 is $1,507.65 a month, about $18,100 a year, but Service Canada figures put the average new retiremen...Read the answerWhen to take CPP: 60, 65 or 70?You can start CPP any time between 60 and 70. Starting before 65 cuts the payment by 0.6% per month, a 36% cut at 60. Waiting p...Read the answer
OAS and the clawback
How can I reduce the OAS clawback?For 2026 the OAS clawback takes 15 cents of every dollar of net income above $95,323, so reducing it means lowering the income...Read the answerWhat is the OAS clawback?The OAS clawback reduces your Old Age Security pension once your net income passes $95,323, the threshold for the 2026 tax year...Read the answer
RRSP and RRIF
How do RRIF minimum withdrawals work?Every year, a RRIF must pay out a minimum percentage of its January 1 balance. At 71 the factor is 5.28%, so a $500,000 RRIF mu...Read the answerWhat happens to my RRSP when I turn 71?Your RRSP must be dealt with by December 31 of the year you turn 71. You have three options: cash it out, buy an annuity or con...Read the answer
Couples
What happens to CPP and OAS when a spouse dies?When a spouse dies, their OAS stops completely and nothing transfers. CPP pays the survivor a pension of up to 60% of the decea...Read the answerWhat is pension income splitting?Pension income splitting lets you move up to 50% of eligible pension income to your spouse's tax return each year, using form T...Read the answer
Free calculators
Quick tools that run on the same 2026 CRA rules as the TruePath engine. No account needed.
This year's numbers
The thresholds and limits people ask about, kept current on the CRA's own calendar.
37 questions answered so far, with more added regularly. Every answer is written and checked by the TruePath team, led by founder Len Collins.
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Ask it in plain English, or with your voice. The answers above are general education; the app applies the same rules to your actual numbers.
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Knowing the rules is a good start. Seeing your own plan is better.
TruePath applies every rule in this library to your own accounts and explains the result in plain English, for both spouses. Fourteen days free.