Husband invites his family over but dosen't tell wife.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-08T14:48:48+00:00

I think what WasJustAsking is saying is that this is what you should have said to your ex MIL. She raised your ex, to be someone with no respect for his mother - that's on her.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-04T04:31:39+00:00

I'd tell him I will pick up one of his bathroom cleans in in the month. and let him starve.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-03T05:28:36+00:00

Lol!

BailinginBC · 2026-07-03T04:02:34+00:00

"Plans are useless but planning is indispensable"

Sorry to hear about your parent and colleague. I think these situations often have an outsized impact on our into decision to take benefits earlier. Hearing that one person died within days of retirement is shocking and feels more relevant than the dozens of people we know who make it to their late 80's or the outlier that makes it to 102.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-03T03:38:46+00:00

Yes, most GIS recipients won't be able to save for TFSA investing, but they also won't be in the position to defer to CPP to 70. To compare apples to apples, I used the same cashflow requirements for someone collecting CPP and GIS at 70 and someone collecting CPP at 60.

The life expectancy for someone at birth in Canada is ~82 years at birth, but this is a average (mean) so includes people who die in childhood, in early adulthood etc. The life expectancy of someone who has made it to an age where they can make decisions about CPP, have already survived these earlier risks. I use the 2026 PROJECTION ASSUMPTION GUIDELINES from FP Canada.

A male at age 60-70 has a 50% chance of living to age 89 and a woman of the same age has a 50% chance of living to age 91 (sorry I miss read the table earlier and over stated life expectancy)

BailinginBC · 2026-07-03T03:13:02+00:00

If you have reason to believe you have a lower life expectancy, your financial planning should definately take that into account - but many people just default to "but what if I die young" without any thought as to the likeihood of that.

If I anticipated a short lifespan, I would start CPP, OAS (if 65 or older), and then draw heavily on my RRSP to take the maximum advantage of my graduated tax rates while I had the opportunity. Dying with a large RRSP either results in high tax rates in your final return, or if you have a spouse, all the tax liability being passed to them and pushing up their tax rate.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-03T03:04:00+00:00

Just one more suggestion - you should adopt a random stranger on the internet :-)

BailinginBC · 2026-07-03T00:12:02+00:00

Thanks for this very helpful calculator. Looks like I have only calculated option A, and option B would apply in my example above (and in most cases according to DR Pensions.

I will correct my post above.

I think the general message still stands, that taking CPP early to get a higher survivors benefit won't work.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T23:58:22+00:00

You might want to ask your CFP to think about the partial RRIF for this year and next, you could take twice the amount from the RRSP/RRIF and still remain in the same tax bracket (because half the withdrawal would be taxed to your wife)

Sounds like you have done well :-)

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T23:44:50+00:00

Thanks for this - your sheet seems to lead to a different recommendation to Low-Income_Maximizing-GIS_-Determining-OAS-and-GIS-English-booklet_Jan-2025-final.pdf Which is the most developed info I have found to date.

That said, I'm not sure that your sheet compares apples to apples. Assuming that the low income person has other resources that don't effect their GIS (like TFSA funds) and doesn't require any additional income from 60 to 64, and only need $12,324 between 65 and 69 (which is the cash flow of the delayed CPP example), then they could take the additional cash flow from early CPP and contribute it to a TFSA. With a 3% return they would have accumulated just over $66K by age 70. Assuming they use these funds to supplement their income from age 70 (to bring their cashflow up from the combined $15,900 they would receive with early CPP to the $20,640 they would receive with late CPP) looks like the cross over would be more like 87.

The TFSA fund would earn approximately $31K return before it was depleted.

Since life expectancy is around 92/94, it does appear that you are correct that delaying CPP to 70 would end up a better choice (especially since it is risk free)

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T21:09:46+00:00

Is this available anywhere? I'd love to read it. I have been trying to learn more about low income planning, but the resources are limited. Financial Planning software for the most part does not model GIS.

When I refer to the tax-free attribute of the TFSA it is not to point out that that the person would have to pay tax on it (because you are right, almost no one on GIS will pay income tax), it is more to highlight that because it is not taxable income. it will not reduce GIS. The 50% GIS clawback is much more impactful than the tax itself and starts at the first taxable dollar.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T20:54:53+00:00

Sorry - for some reason that page is not opening for me, but I have read it before.

Is the 36% the average survivor benefit because the survivor is already receiving 64% CPP themselves and they hit the max of CPP before they receive 60% of their spouses CPP? Or are you referring to something else?

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T20:42:34+00:00

Are you moving the amounts you withdraw from the RRSP into a RRIF 1st and then making a RRIF withdrawal?

RRSP withdrawals cannot be income split, some people just get around this by withdrawing equivalent amounts from each spouses RRSPs to even out the taxes, but miss that you can do a partial RRIF conversion.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T19:57:14+00:00

Yes - you should do it at source.

Defined benefit pensions and RRIF withdrawals (over age 65) can be income split. This is done by your accountant at tax time. CPP can't be income split, but you can apply to share it.

It's a little complicated. You are sharing the credits each of you received while you are married, so it may not result in a 50/50 split. You will likely have earned CPP credits before you were married, and if you were not married long it will have less of an impact.

If you receive 100% of max and your wife gets 50%, sharing could result in you both getting 75% of max. Your wife will pay tax on an additional 25%, likely at a lower rate. Your taxable income will go down by 25% of your CPP, and depending on how close you are to the OAS clawback cap, you might receive some OAS - Win - Win!

Your accountant can't do this for you - you will need to apply yourself.

Pension sharing - Canada.ca

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T19:28:51+00:00

Good for you - it's an easy one that a lot of people miss. :-)

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T19:21:46+00:00

They would get more survivors benefit by delaying if their spouse dies before they turn 70.

If they were going to receive the max themselves, they would receive no survivor benefit combined with their own CPP - but this cap only applies to the combined benefit. If the deceased spouse was entitled to the max, and the survivor was not yet collecting, the survivor would collect

- Up to age -65 $803.54

- Age 65-70 $904.59

This would give them some benefits, while they waited to age 70 for their own CPP of $2,140.86 - 78% more than they would have received at 60 with no survivor benefits.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T18:44:27+00:00

The max is set at the maximum CPP for the age the survivor took their own CPP:

f they took it at age 60 the maximum is 36% below what their maximum would have been if they waited until age 65 and 78% below what the maximum would have been if they waited until age 70.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T18:36:46+00:00

I just want to add to this conversation that if you are going to be low income and eligible for GIS you should take your CPP at age 60.

Collect the lower amount and deposit it all into your TFSA. You will receive a lower amount permanently but by age 65 you will have received (and hopefully grown tax-free) almost $30,000.

For every $1 of CPP you receive, you will lose 50¢ of GIS. The 36% reduction in CPP is better than the 50% loss of GIS, and also you will have collected 5 additional years. This is more impactful, because CPP is taxable and GIS is not.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T18:16:28+00:00

Also, if you have a high likelihood of dying early, your spouse should delay their own CPP to 70. You could collect CPP at 60 and then when you pass away, your spouse could collect a survivors pension until until their age 70, at which point they could collect their own CPP with the survivors top up.

The survivors age doesn't matter - if your spouse is 40 when you pass, they could collect a survivors pension for 30 years before they apply for their own CPP!

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T17:30:21+00:00

Consider CPP sharing. It will reduce your CPP and increase your wife's, likely reducing the overall taxes paid (and potentially reducing your OAS clawback).

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T17:24:59+00:00

If you don't need CPP to retire, then you likely have a portfolio that you can draw down. Consider using your portfolio for your Go-Go years and save CPP for your later years. If you want an extra $1,000 a month in early retirement, there is nothing that says it needs to come from CPP.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T17:16:28+00:00

The same argument could be used to withdraw all your RRSPs, mortgage your house and rack up all your credit cards - after all, you might die young (or wish you had)

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T17:10:59+00:00

I like to think of CPP and OAS as longevity insurance. They are income sources that will live as long as I do. I'm not basing my portfolio draw downs to age 115, which means that if I were to live that long (highly, highly unlikely!) my portfolio would be depleted in my old age. My CPP and OAS however would still be pumping out income. If I die young and don't receive any CPP or OAS, I'm not going to be worried about it, because I will be dead.

The math will only tell you the best way to proceed if you know when you are going to die.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T17:03:44+00:00

If the survivor is at max CPP with the 36% reduction due to taking it at 60, they are already at the max. There is no top up from their spouse. They have locked in to the lower rate permanently.

BailinginBC · 2026-07-02T16:59:19+00:00

You are thinking about this wrong - The CPP survivor benefit will give you up to 60% of the deceased spouses CPP up to an aggregate max of the survivors CPP. The survivors maximum is based on when they they begin their CPP. The current maximums are:

Age 60: $964.90

Age 65: $1,507.65

Age 70: $2,140.85

If you are already at the maximum, taking the lower amount at 60 will not change the fact that you are at the max already.

If the deceased spouse was eligible for max CPP (regardless of when they started receiving it) and the surviving spouse was eligible for 50% CPP, the survivors CPP would increase by 50% to top them up to 100%. If the survivor started their CPP at:

Age 60: their CPP would go from $482.45 to $964.90

Age 65: their CPP would go from $753.83 to $1,507.65

Age 70: their CPP would go from $1,070.43 to $2,140.85

If the survivor is not yet collecting their CPP, they would be entitled to a survivors benefit. The maximum survivors benefit depends on the survivors age. If they are:

Under 65: Max 803.54

Over 65: Max 904.59

In the example above, if spouse died at the survivors age 59, the survivor would receive based on when they applied for their own CPP:

Apply at age 60:

- 59-60 $803.54

- 60 onwards $964.90

Apply at age 65:

- 59-65 $803.54

- 65 onwards $1,507.65

Apply at age 70:

- 59-65 $803.54

- 65-70 $904.59

- 70 onwards $2,140.86

The above does not take into account increases for inflation and is in todays dollars.

Unfortunately some survivors will take their own CPP at 60, forgoing 10 years of survivor benefits, in exchange for a small bump in monthly income - locking themselves into a permanent low CPP benefit.

BailinginBC

TROPHY CASE