Step-by-step examples for opening accounts, spousal RRSPs, withdrawals and withholding, the Home Buyers' Plan, the Lifelong Learning Plan and RRIF conversion.
These guides follow an illustrative person through a real decision: which account to fund first at each life stage, what to bring when opening an account, how a spousal RRSP and its three-year attribution rule play out, how much cash actually arrives when you withdraw $12,000 from an RRSP, how a $60,000 Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal is repaid, and what your first RRIF minimum will be after you convert at 71.
Begin with the scenarios and checklists hub, then pick your situation. The calculators let you rerun each example with your own figures. People, balances, returns and fees in the examples are invented for illustration; rates and limits are the 2026 figures published by the Canada Revenue Agency where we state them. Your institution's statements, your notice of assessment and CRA My Account are the records that count.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
How the HBP and LLP work in 2026: limits, conditions, the 90-day rule, repayment schedules including the 2022–2025 deferral, missed repayments and combining with an FHSA.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
Step by step: choosing where to open an RRSP, TFSA or FHSA, the documents and SIN you need, savings vs self-directed vs managed accounts, beneficiaries and setting up contributions.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
A hub of worked RRSP, TFSA, FHSA and RRIF scenarios for 2026, with the numbers shown, plus the checklists and calculators to repeat each one with your own figures.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
What you must do with an RRSP by December 31 of the year you turn 71, RRIF vs annuity vs cash, the prescribed minimum factors, the younger-spouse election and the first RRIF year.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
How much tax is withheld when you cash out RRSP money in 2026, the Quebec rates, why splitting withdrawals does not save tax, the balance owing at filing and when no tax is withheld.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
How a spousal or common-law partner RRSP works in 2026, whose room it uses, the three-year attribution rule worked out, exceptions, December timing and use after 71.
Worked Scenarios and Checklists
A decision order for registered accounts at seven life stages, from student to retiree, covering employer matches, first homes, irregular income, parents and pre-retirees.
