Annual review checks.
Use these checks before repeating last year's retirement-income plan.
| Decision | What to check first |
|---|---|
| Cash need | Year-ahead spending, health costs, family support, home repairs, travel, and reserves. |
| RRIF minimum | Minimum withdrawal, withholding, taxable income, and whether more or less should be reviewed. |
| Tax slips and OAS exposure | T4A/T4RIF/T5/T3 slips, capital gains, pension income, and recovery-tax exposure. |
| Portfolio withdrawals | Which account funds the year and what should remain flexible. |
| Beneficiaries | Beneficiary designations, insurance, estate-document prompts, and family-support changes. |
Retirement planning does not stop when work ends. Each year, a retired household should review cash needs, RRIF minimums, CPP/OAS income, taxable income, portfolio withdrawals, tax slips, beneficiary details, insurance, and estate-document prompts before simply repeating last year’s withdrawal plan.
Key takeaways
- Last year’s withdrawal plan may not fit this year’s spending, tax, or market conditions.
- RRIF minimums, CPP/OAS, pension income, taxable investment income, and capital gains should be reviewed together.
- TFSA, non-registered, RRIF/RRSP, pension, and cash-reserve roles can change after retirement begins.
- Beneficiary, insurance, estate, and advisor-service questions deserve a yearly check.
Who this applies to
Use this when retirement has already started and the year ahead needs a practical review. The question may involve monthly cash flow, RRIF minimums, voluntary withdrawals, CPP/OAS income, pension income, non-registered gains, TFSA use, tax slips, beneficiary records, insurance, estate documents, or whether the current advisor relationship still fits.
If the matter is urgent, legal, tax-filing specific, investment-trade specific, or account-instruction specific, start with the right professional or institution instead of relying on a public article.
The planning issue
A retirement plan should not run on autopilot. A retired household may repeat the same withdrawal simply because it worked last year, even though taxable income, OAS recovery-tax exposure, health costs, family help, investment values, or required RRIF withdrawals have changed.
The annual review should make the income sequence visible before withdrawals, benefit choices, portfolio changes, or estate-related updates are treated as routine.
Example Ontario scenario
A retired household has been taking the same withdrawal for three years. This year a large home repair, market volatility, and a capital gain make the usual withdrawal plan less automatic.
The first planning conversation would check cash need, RRIF minimums, taxable income, OAS exposure, portfolio withdrawals, and beneficiary records before repeating last year’s withdrawal pattern.
Documents to gather
- Latest tax return and notice of assessment
- CPP and OAS estimates or My Service Canada details
- Pension estimate or benefit booklet
- RRSP/RRIF, TFSA, non-registered, LIRA/LIF, and corporate account statements
- Insurance summary and beneficiary information
Keep sensitive documents out of public notes and ordinary email until the office confirms the secure route.
Red flags to slow down for
- Repeating last year’s withdrawal pattern without checking RRIF minimums or tax slips
- Ignoring OAS recovery-tax exposure after gains or withdrawals
- Treating portfolio income and after-tax cash flow as the same thing
- Forgetting beneficiary, insurance, or estate-document updates
Questions that change the next step
- What decision is actually being made, and what can wait?
- Which facts would change the answer?
- What costs, taxes, fees, or paperwork could appear if action is taken now?
- Who else needs to be involved before anything permanent changes?
- What would a clean next step look like after the first conversation?
Professional boundaries to keep clear
- Financial advisor or planner
- Accountant or tax preparer
- Lawyer for estate documents
- Current pension or account institution
- Insurance professional when coverage is part of the question
Sources checked
- Canada.ca: Sources of income during retirement
- CRA: Registered Retirement Income Fund
- Canada.ca: Old Age Security pension recovery tax
- CRA: Pension income splitting
Related Stiller pages
- Retirement Income Planning
- Downloads
- Tax Planning & Preparation
- Investment Review & Portfolio Planning
- Estate & Inheritance Planning
Article-specific next step
Build the income map first. If this topic connects to your situation, use the Retirement Clarity Map or review the Retirement Income Planning page before booking a first call.
