RRIF & Ontario LIF Payment Calculator

Set federally by section 7308 of the Income Tax Regulations and applied to the balance at the start of the fiscal year. The driver is your age on January 1, not your age at year end.

• Age 70 or under on Jan 1: 1 / (90 − age)
• Age 71 or over on Jan 1: the prescribed factor, 5.28% at 71 rising to 20.00% at 95 and above

All LIFs are RRIFs with extra restrictions layered on, so the minimum rules are the same. If you elected to use a younger spouse's age, that age drives the minimum — but it has no effect on the LIF maximum.

Under section 6 of Schedule 1.1 to Regulation 909, the maximum is the greater of:

1. the prior fiscal year's investment earnings, including unrealized gains and losses; and
2. C / F, where C is the balance at the start of the fiscal year and F is the present value of a $1 annuity payable annually in advance from the start of the year through December 31 of the year you turn 90.

The rate inside F is the greater of 6.00% and the November CANSIM V122487 long-term Government of Canada bond rate. That rate has been under 6.00% for decades, so Ontario's published table has been frozen at the 6.00% values since January 1, 2021. This calculator recomputes the formula rather than hard-coding the table — it reproduces every published figure exactly, and will stay correct if the reference rate ever exceeds 6.00%.

If the minimum ever exceeds the maximum, the minimum governs. In the year you turn 90 the factor reaches 100% and the balance may be paid out in full.

A RRIF has no maximum. That is the single biggest difference between the two accounts.

• Within 60 days of money arriving in a Schedule 1.1 LIF from a pension plan or LIRA, up to 50% may be withdrawn in cash or transferred to an RRSP or RRIF (FSRA Form 5.2). It must be entirely one or the other, not split.
• This resets with each qualifying transfer — it is not a once-per-lifetime event.
• The first-year maximum is calculated on the balance at the start of the fiscal year, before the unlocked amount comes out. This calculator models that.
• If the LIF is established after January 1, the maximum is prorated over the months remaining, counting a partial month as a full month.
• No income is required in the initial fiscal year, but it must begin before the end of the second year.

Ontario's Schedule 1.1 LIF has no temporary income option for owners under 65 — the 50% unlocking provision took its place. Several other provinces do offer temporary income, so do not carry that assumption across jurisdictions.

Handled on FSRA Form 5 and assessed by your financial institution:

• Small amount: age 55 or older and total holdings in all locked-in accounts under 40% of the YMPE. For 2026 the YMPE is $74,600, so the threshold is $29,840.
• Shortened life expectancy of two years or less, certified by a physician.
• Non-residency, once 24 months have passed since leaving Canada.
• Amounts transferred in excess of Income Tax Act limits.

Financial hardship unlocking is a separate process with its own categories.

• Withholding tax. Amounts above the minimum are subject to withholding at source (10/20/30% outside Quebec). Withdrawals are fully taxable as income either way; withholding is a prepayment, not the tax bill.
• Income tax and clawbacks. RRIF and LIF income counts toward net income for OAS recovery tax and GIS. For many people that interaction matters more than the withdrawal rate itself.
• Federal (PBSA) and other provincial LIFs, which use different reference rates and factor tables.
• Ontario Pre-2009 LIFs and LRIFs. Their maximum formula is now harmonized with the Post-2008 LIF, but other rules still differ.
• Monthly payment timing — everything here is annual, withdrawn at the start of the year.