RRSP Retirement Savings Calculator
Estimate how your contributions and hypothetical investment growth could build retirement savings over time. Adjust the inputs to explore different possibilities.
This is an educational illustration with example values, not financial advice. Results are hypothetical and not guaranteed.
From 18 to 71 years.
Hypothetical, not guaranteed. A higher return is not necessarily attainable. You can use 0%.
Your estimated retirement savings
$409,300
This is an estimated RRSP account balance before taxes on withdrawals. It is not the same as the amount you may have available to spend in retirement.
- Starting RRSP balance
- $0
- Your contributions
- $180,000
- Hypothetical investment growth
- $229,300
- Years until the selected age
- 30
- Starting balance
- Your contributions
- Hypothetical growth
See the numbers in a table
| End of year (age) | Starting balance | Your contributions | Hypothetical growth | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 40 | $0 | $30,000 | $4,045 | $34,045 |
| 45 | $0 | $60,000 | $17,496 | $77,496 |
| 50 | $0 | $90,000 | $42,952 | $132,952 |
| 55 | $0 | $120,000 | $83,729 | $203,729 |
| 60 | $0 | $150,000 | $144,060 | $294,060 |
| 65 | $0 | $180,000 | $229,349 | $409,349 |
Some intermediate years are omitted for clarity.
A marginal tax rate is the rate that applies to your next dollars of income. Everyday example: if your marginal rate is 30% and you contribute $1,000 to an RRSP, the contribution could reduce the tax you owe for that year by about $300, if the contribution is eligible and you claim the deduction. Enter a rate to see an estimate for one year of planned contributions.
Your RRSP deduction limit and any unused contribution room carried forward appear on your latest notice of assessment or in CRA My Account. New room is generally added each year (18% of your earned income, up to an annual maximum), so the room you have today says nothing about the room you will have in future years. This tool never calculates your room from age or income.
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How does an RRSP work?
An RRSP, Registered Retirement Savings Plan, is a tax-advantaged registered account for retirement saving. Growth inside the RRSP compounds tax-deferred: you do not pay tax while the investments grow inside the account.
Eligible contributions may be deductible, which can reduce the tax for the year they are made. RRSP contribution and deduction room is individual: it is not determined by age or salary alone. Check your own room in your latest notice of assessment or CRA My Account.
You can contribute to your own RRSP until the end of the year you turn 71. By the end of that year the plan must mature, commonly into a RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund), an annuity, or withdrawals. Withdrawals are taxed as income in the year they are made, and each option has different implications that this calculator does not model.
The RRSP is the account; the investments inside it (funds, GICs, stocks and others) are something else. Returns depend on those investments, not on the RRSP itself.
Assumptions and limitations
- Contributions are assumed deposited at the start of each month, with the annual increase applied once per year. The first row of the table is your starting balance today; each following row is the balance at the end of a projection year, labeled with your approximate age at the end of that year.
- Growth compounds monthly at the hypothetical rate you choose, applied to the balance including the contribution deposited that month. 0% is allowed. A higher return is not guaranteed or necessarily attainable.
- Investment fees and future taxes on withdrawals are not included.
- Inflation is applied only when you select the today's purchasing power view. That view discounts every displayed figure (amount, breakdown, chart and scenarios) at the rate you enter, so nominal and inflation-adjusted values are never mixed.
- This tool never determines your RRSP deduction limit or contribution room from age or income. If you enter the available room you know, the comparison covers only the first year of planned contributions, because future room is earned over time and is not yet known today. It does not account for updated CRA assessments, pension adjustments, or contributions already made this year.
- The tax illustration is optional, uses a marginal rate you enter, and applies it to one year of planned contributions only. It assumes eligible contributions are deductible, never promises a refund, and is not personalized tax advice.
- Contributions are modelled only through the calendar year you turn 71, and the planned retirement age cannot exceed 71. RRIF, annuity and withdrawal options are not modelled.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest $100 for readability.
Official sources
- CRA: Where you find your RRSP and PRPP deduction limit
- CRA: RRSPs and related plans
- CRA: Contributing to an RRSP or PRPP
These calculations are illustrations based on your inputs and assumptions. Actual results, program eligibility, tax treatment, and investment performance may differ. Last reviewed October 2026.