Retirement planning in one page

1. What will my reliable income be? Include CPP, OAS, GIS, Ontario GAINS, Allowance benefits, employer pensions, annuities, rental income, and part-time work.
2. What will my flexible income be? Include RRSP/RRIF, LIRA/LIF, non-registered investments, TFSA, cash, and eligible FHSA transfers.
3. What will my essential and discretionary expenses be? Separate basic housing, food, utilities, tax, medical, dental, insurance, and care from travel, gifts, hobbies, and renovations.
4. Which tax and benefit thresholds matter? Monitor OAS recovery tax, GIS/GAINS, OTB components, age amount, pension income amount, GST/HST credit, and municipal relief.
5. What could go wrong? Stress-test inflation, market declines, longevity, disability, spouse death, fraud, care needs, home repairs, and family conflict.
6. What insurance and public coverage remain after work ends? Review life, disability, critical illness, health/dental, travel medical, ODB, CDCP, and long-term-care exposure.
7. What documents and people protect the plan? Maintain wills, two Ontario powers of attorney, beneficiaries, successor designations, account inventory, digital-access plan, trusted contacts, and professional contacts.

Rule of thumb: Retirement planning is about after-tax, after-benefit cash flow — not just gross income. A lower taxable income supported by TFSA cash flow may be more useful than a