RRIF withdrawal calculator
The minimum you must take out is a percentage of your balance on 1 January, set by your age on that date — 5.28% at 71, rising every year to 20% at 95. Every factor below is the CRA’s own, and the site’s tests check all twenty-five of them against the published chart.
Your RRIF minimum
5.28% of $500,000 — the prescribed factor for your age.
You are taking only the minimum, so there is nothing here for the withholding rates to apply to. Move the slider above the minimum and the published rates (10, 20 and 30%) appear on the excess.
What a RRIF is, in one paragraph
A registered retirement income fund is what an RRSP becomes when you stop saving into it and start drawing from it — the same investments, pointed the other way. By the end of the year you turn 71 the CRA gives you three choices for an RRSP: withdraw it, buy an annuity with it, or transfer it to a RRIF. Most people transfer, because the money stays invested and keeps growing sheltered.
The transfer itself costs nothing — the CRA is explicit that an issuer “will not withhold tax on amounts that are transferred directly to a RRIF”, and nothing is sold to make it happen. What changes is the obligation: from the year after the RRIF is established you must take a minimum out every year, and that amount is taxable income when you do. There is no maximum. The rest of this page is about that minimum.
The minimum is a floor, not a plan
Taking exactly the minimum every year feels like the cautious choice, and it is often the expensive one. The factor climbs faster than most portfolios grow, so the withdrawal rises year after year and lands as fully taxable income at exactly the age when the Old Age Security recovery tax is most likely to bite.
Drawing more than the minimum earlier, when income is lower, is the standard counter-move. Whether it pays in a particular case depends on your whole position — which is what the retirement planner is for.
Three details that change the number
- The date. The factor is applied to the balance on 1 January, using your age on 1 January. A market fall in February does not reduce what you must withdraw that year.
- Your spouse’s age. You may elect to base the minimum on a younger spouse’s age, which lowers it. The election is made when the RRIF is set up and is irrevocable.
- The first year. A minimum is required starting in the year after the RRIF is established, so a plan opened this year has nothing to pay out until next.
RRIF minimum withdrawal rates by age
The prescribed factors, applied to the balance at the start of the year. Below 71 the figure is 1 ÷ (90 − age); from 71 the schedule takes over. The right column is what $500,000 would require.
| Age on 1 January | Minimum factor | On $500,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 65 | 4.00% | $20,000 |
| 66 | 4.17% | $20,833 |
| 67 | 4.35% | $21,739 |
| 68 | 4.55% | $22,727 |
| 69 | 4.76% | $23,810 |
| 70 | 5.00% | $25,000 |
| 71 | 5.28% | $26,400 |
| 72 | 5.40% | $27,000 |
| 73 | 5.53% | $27,650 |
| 74 | 5.67% | $28,350 |
| 75 | 5.82% | $29,100 |
| 76 | 5.98% | $29,900 |
| 77 | 6.17% | $30,850 |
| 78 | 6.36% | $31,800 |
| 79 | 6.58% | $32,900 |
| 80 | 6.82% | $34,100 |
| 81 | 7.08% | $35,400 |
| 82 | 7.38% | $36,900 |
| 83 | 7.71% | $38,550 |
| 84 | 8.08% | $40,400 |
| 85 | 8.51% | $42,550 |
| 86 | 8.99% | $44,950 |
| 87 | 9.55% | $47,750 |
| 88 | 10.21% | $51,050 |
| 89 | 10.99% | $54,950 |
| 90 | 11.92% | $59,600 |
| 91 | 13.06% | $65,300 |
| 92 | 14.49% | $72,450 |
| 93 | 16.34% | $81,700 |
| 94 | 18.79% | $93,950 |
| 95 and over | 20.00% | $100,000 |
Common questions
What is a RRIF?
A registered retirement income fund is what a registered retirement savings plan becomes when you stop saving into it and start drawing from it. At 71 the CRA gives you three options for an RRSP: withdraw it, transfer it to a RRIF, or buy an annuity with it. The RRIF is the one most people choose, because it keeps the money invested and lets it keep growing sheltered from tax — you are taxed on what comes out, not on what stays in.
How does a RRIF work?
Your RRSP is transferred into it, which is not itself a taxable event — the CRA is explicit that an issuer "will not withhold tax on amounts that are transferred directly to a RRIF". From then on the plan pays you. Each year you must take out at least a minimum, set as a percentage of the balance on 1 January by your age on that date, and there is no maximum. Whatever you take out is ordinary taxable income in the year you take it.
What is the difference between an RRSP and a RRIF?
The same investments, pointed the other way. An RRSP is the accumulation account and a RRIF is the payout account: the RRIF has a compulsory annual minimum withdrawal where the RRSP has none, and it must be in place by the end of the year you turn 71. Converting does not mean selling anything — the holdings move across intact.
How much do I have to withdraw from my RRIF?
A percentage of the balance on 1 January, set by your age on that date. At 71 it is 5.28%, at 80 it is 6.82%, at 90 it is 11.92%, and from 95 it stays at 20%. On $500,000 at 71 that is $26,400 for the year.
What are the RRIF withdrawal rates by age?
Below 71 the factor is 1 divided by (90 minus your age), so 5% at 70 and 4% at 65. From 71 a prescribed schedule takes over, rising each year from 5.28% to 20% at 95 and flat thereafter. The full table is on this page.
When do I have to convert my RRSP to a RRIF?
By the end of the year you turn 71. You can convert earlier, and some people do to use the pension income amount. Starting in the year after you establish a RRIF, a minimum must be paid out each year — so a RRIF opened this year has no required withdrawal until next.
Can I use my spouse's age to lower the minimum?
Yes. You can elect to have the minimum calculated on your spouse's or common-law partner's age instead of your own, which lowers the required withdrawal if they are younger. The election is made when the RRIF is set up and cannot be changed afterwards, so it is a decision worth making deliberately.
Is tax withheld on RRIF withdrawals?
On amounts taken above the minimum, the published rates outside Quebec are 10% up to $5,000, 20% to $15,000, 30% above $15,000. The rate is set by the size of the payment rather than applied in slices, so a $16,000 payment has 30% withheld on all of it. Withholding is not the final tax — it is a deposit against your return. How your institution treats the minimum itself is a question for them.
Is there a maximum RRIF withdrawal?
No. There is a floor, not a ceiling — you can take the whole plan out in one year if you want to. The consequence is tax, not a restriction: a large withdrawal lands in a single year's income, which can push you through brackets and into the Old Age Security recovery tax.
Does the RRIF minimum count towards the OAS clawback?
Yes. RRIF income is ordinary taxable income and counts in full towards the net income the recovery tax is assessed on. Because the minimum rises every year while the threshold moves only with inflation, a plan that sits below the threshold at 71 can be well above it at 85 without a single decision in between.
Factors are the CRA's chart of prescribed factors and the withholding rates are its published rates on withdrawals, both checked on 20 August 2026. A RRIF established before 1993 — a “qualifying” RRIF — uses .0526 rather than .0528 at 71; no one that describes is still 71, so it is not modelled. The projection assumes a constant return and no fees. Estimates only, and not tax or financial advice.