Which account should you spend first?
The same savings can leave your family very different amounts depending on the order you spend them in. The usual advice — save the RRSP for last — lets it grow until the RRIF minimums and your final tax return take it out at higher rates.
This runs your retirement year by year to 95 three ways, with 2026 federal and provincial tax, CPP, OAS and its clawback, and RRIF minimums, and compares what each leaves.
It assumes you're retired today, CPP and OAS start at 65 at typical amounts, and your money earns the return FP Canada's 2026 guidelines imply for a 60/40 portfolio. Encore Years' order is a rule, not a proven best: it beat both rules of thumb on 688 of 768 test households. Where another order wins, this says so. For your own CPP, OAS, pension and partner, build your full plan, free.
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