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| TL; DRCalculating how much money you need to retire depends on your expected income needs, the tax structure of your accounts, and how efficiently your savings convert into monthly income. Beaches Financial Group in North York, Toronto, builds integrated retirement income plans for Canadians with $750K to $2M in assets — so you know your exact number, not a rough estimate. |
This is one of the most important questions any Canadian can ask — and one of the most poorly answered. Online calculators produce a number. What they don’t tell you is whether that number accounts for taxes, whether your specific mix of registered and non-registered accounts will work efficiently together, or whether your CPP and OAS timing will support or undermine the plan.
For pre-retirees in Toronto’s North York, East End, and surrounding GTA communities, the retirement planning process is often more complex than they expect — and more consequential than it appears. A savings balance is not a plan. Beaches Financial Group exists to close the gap between what people have built and what they need to know to live on it confidently.
Quick Answer
| Most Canadians need between 60 and 80 percent of their pre-retirement income to maintain their lifestyle, though the right figure depends on mortgage status, planned travel, and healthcare costs. Beaches Financial Group builds a personalized income map for each client in North York and across the GTA so the target reflects their actual life — not an industry average. |
The 70 percent rule is a starting point, not an answer. A couple in Toronto who paid off their mortgage before retiring has very different income needs than a couple still carrying debt, planning annual international travel, or anticipating significant healthcare costs as they age.
The correct approach is to build a monthly budget for the retirement you actually want — housing, food, travel, healthcare, gifts to family, and discretionary spending — and use that as the foundation. Online calculators tend to skip this step entirely. Beaches Financial Group uses it as the starting point for every retirement plan, because the income you need is the one that funds the life you’ve worked toward.
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| Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security are foundational income sources that directly reduce the amount of savings you need to draw down. Beaches Financial Group calculates the timing and sequencing of CPP and OAS as part of every retirement plan — because claiming at the wrong age can cost a Toronto-area retiree tens of thousands of dollars over a 20-year retirement. |
CPP can be claimed as early as age 60 or deferred as late as age 70. The difference in monthly payment between those two endpoints is significant: claiming at 60 results in a permanent 36 percent reduction relative to the age-65 amount, while deferring to 70 results in a permanent 42 percent increase. OAS becomes available at 65 and can also be deferred to 70 for a 36 percent uplift.
According to the Government of Canada, the average monthly CPP retirement pension for a new beneficiary starting at age 65 was approximately $817 in 2024. For most clients, Beaches Financial Group models CPP and OAS timing scenarios as a standard component of the retirement income plan, because the cumulative impact of the wrong decision can reach $80,000 to $120,000 over a 20-year retirement for a couple with combined savings of $1.2 million.
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| Taxes are the largest unplanned expense in most retirements. The order in which you draw down your RRSP, TFSA, and non-registered accounts determines how much of your savings you actually keep. Beaches Financial Group uses integrated drawdown sequencing that can add $200,000 to $400,000 in after-tax income for a couple with $1.5 million in mixed accounts — with no change to investment risk. |
This is the number that surprises people most when they first see it, and it has nothing to do with picking better investments or timing the market. It is purely a function of sequencing: drawing from a TFSA in a higher-income year instead of an RRSP, managing the RRSP-to-RRIF conversion timeline, income splitting between spouses, and staying below OAS clawback thresholds.
According to Fidelity Investments Canada’s 2025 annual retirement report, only 8 percent of pre-retirees have a detailed plan for how they will withdraw and use their savings in retirement. Most are relying on ad hoc decisions rather than a structured income strategy. That gap — between saving enough and actually keeping enough — is where Beaches Financial Group focuses its integrated planning work for GTA families.
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| The 4 percent rule — withdraw 4 percent of your portfolio annually to avoid outliving your savings — was built on U.S. market data and does not account for the Canadian tax structure, CPP and OAS income floors, or the current rate environment. Beaches Financial Group builds individualized withdrawal strategies rather than relying on a single-formula approximation. |
For a Canadian with CPP and OAS providing a meaningful income floor, the required portfolio withdrawal rate is often lower than 4 percent — which means the required savings target may also be lower than the standard rule implies. Conversely, in a higher-inflation environment, even 4 percent may not be conservative enough.
Morningstar’s 2021 State of Retirement Income research found that 3.3 percent was a more realistic safe starting withdrawal rate for new retirees in a low-yield environment. Beaches Financial Group uses dynamic withdrawal modelling that adjusts to market conditions, tax changes, and client spending patterns over time — rather than locking in a fixed rule that may not hold across a 25-year retirement horizon.
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| Healthcare and long-term care costs are consistently underestimated in retirement planning. According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, roughly 60 percent of individuals over age 65 will require some form of long-term care services during their lifetime, with Ontario government-licensed long-term care home costs ranging from approximately $24,000 to $35,000 annually and private accommodations running significantly higher. Beaches Financial Group builds these projections into the estate and retirement income plan from the start. |
This is the conversation most advisors delay until it becomes urgent — which is exactly when it is hardest to solve. Insurance options narrow as health changes. RRIF withdrawals become mandatory at 71, adding taxable income when healthcare costs may begin rising. The estate structure that worked at 65 may need significant revision at 75.
Beaches Financial Group addresses healthcare as a structural element of the retirement plan — not an afterthought. Insurance review, estate structure, and healthcare cost modelling are part of every integrated plan alongside investment and tax components. This is one of the core differences between working with a team that sees the whole picture and receiving advice from multiple advisors who have never spoken to each other.
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| Inflation erodes purchasing power over a 20- to 30-year retirement in ways that most projections understate. A plan that feels sufficient at 65 may feel insufficient at 80 if it does not account for healthcare and housing inflation, which have historically outpaced the general Consumer Price Index in Toronto. Beaches Financial Group stress-tests every retirement income plan against multiple inflation scenarios. |
At a 3 percent average inflation rate, $80,000 of annual income today has the purchasing power of approximately $54,000 in 15 years. For retirees in the Greater Toronto Area, where service and housing costs have historically risen faster than the national average, this erosion can be more pronounced.
The Bank of Canada targets a 2 percent inflation rate, but historical experience shows healthcare and housing costs often exceed that benchmark. Beaches Financial Group builds inflation-adjusted income projections and tests retirement plans under stress scenarios — so clients have confidence in the durability of their plan, not just its performance under ideal conditions.
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| Having enough saved is not the same as having a retirement income plan. Many Canadians arrive at retirement with substantial assets but no structure for converting them into a reliable, tax-efficient monthly income. Beaches Financial Group exists to close that gap — to turn what you’ve built into a paycheque you can count on, every month, for the rest of your life. |
A retirement income plan answers specific questions that a savings balance cannot: Which account do you draw from first? When does CPP start? How does the RRIF mandatory withdrawal interact with OAS clawback thresholds? What happens to the estate if one spouse passes first? How does the plan change if one partner needs long-term care at 78?
Beaches Financial Group works with clients across North York and the GTA whose financial picture is often spread across multiple institutions that have never communicated with each other. Investments at the bank. Taxes with the accountant. Insurance with a broker. Estate documents with the lawyer. None of those advisors has seen the whole picture. Bringing it all together into one integrated plan — and monitoring it as life changes — is what Beaches Financial Group does.
The amount depends on your lifestyle, housing costs, and the tax efficiency of your drawdown structure. A couple in Toronto with no mortgage typically needs $60,000 to $90,000 per year in retirement income, which — combined with CPP and OAS — generally requires between $800,000 and $1.5 million in investable assets. Beaches Financial Group builds a personalized number based on your specific situation, not a statistical average.
For many Canadians, yes — particularly when CPP and OAS provide a meaningful income floor. However, $1 million in an RRSP is not the same as $1 million in a TFSA. Tax structure in the drawdown plan determines how much of that amount you actually keep. Beaches Financial Group builds integrated drawdown plans that clarify the real after-tax value of your savings before you retire.
A Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) is the account into which your RRSP must be converted by December 31 of the year you turn 71. Mandatory minimum withdrawals begin the following year. Because RRIF withdrawals are fully taxable as income, the timing and annual amount withdrawn have significant implications for your total tax bill in retirement. Beaches Financial Group incorporates RRIF strategy into every retirement income plan.
Running out of money in retirement is a serious risk, particularly as life expectancy in Canada has risen — according to Statistics Canada, life expectancy at birth is approximately 84 years for women and 79 years for men, with a 65-year-old today expected to live to nearly 87 on average. Beaches Financial Group plans for longevity by building income projections to age 95, stress-testing against inflation and market downturns, and reviewing the plan regularly. The goal is a retirement structure that holds for as long as you need it.
A complete plan addresses investment management, tax-optimized drawdown sequencing, CPP and OAS timing, estate structure, and insurance review — all coordinated together. If your advisor manages your investments but has never discussed RRIF conversion timing, income splitting, or OAS deferral strategy, you may have investment management without a plan. Beaches Financial Group offers a complimentary initial consultation for GTA families who want to understand what a complete plan looks like.
There is no single best age — the right retirement date depends on financial readiness, health, and the optimal timing of CPP and OAS. Retiring at 60 means drawing down savings longer and potentially claiming CPP at a permanently reduced rate. Retiring at 65 aligns with full OAS eligibility. Beaches Financial Group models the financial impact of multiple retirement dates so clients can make the decision based on their own data, not a general rule.
Beaches Financial Group offers a complimentary, confidential initial consultation for pre-retirees in Toronto and the GTA who want a clear picture of their retirement number and what it takes to reach it. No commitment. No up-front cost. Just a real conversation about where you are and what it takes to get where you want to be.
Beaches Financial Group is part of Bellwether Investment Management, one of Canada’s leading independent wealth management firms. Christopher Jardine CFP, CIM leads the Beaches Group practice in North York, serving pre-retirees and retirees across the Greater Toronto Area with a team that manages investments, tax strategy, estate planning, and insurance coordination under one roof.
Contact Beaches Financial Group to schedule your complimentary retirement income consultation.
