Withdrawal Strategy & Optimizer
The Optimize view on the Retirement tab is where you control how your retirement income is drawn down. You set account order, benefit timing, and tax toggles, or let the Strategy Optimizer search for the best combination.
Strategy Optimizer (Pro)
The Optimize my strategy button is on the Retirement tab’s Optimize view. It tests thousands of combinations against your full projection: CPP/Social Security timing, withdrawal order, meltdown brackets, TFSA/Roth strategy, spousal splits, and PLOC configurations. This usually takes 30–60 seconds.
When it finishes, you get three one-click presets:
| Preset | What it optimizes | Example result |
|---|---|---|
| Minimize tax | Lowest lifetime tax paid | “Save $47,000 in lifetime taxes” |
| Maximize estate | Largest projected estate at death | “Increase estate by $112,000” |
| Maximize years | Most years before portfolio depletion | “+3 years of funded retirement” |
Click a preset card to apply it. Your strategy settings update to match. A fourth Custom option lets you keep your own manual configuration.
Each preset shows the optimized score and the improvement over your current settings. Click one to see which settings would change (e.g., “CPP Start: 65 → 70”, “RRSP Meltdown: Off → On”).
The result depends on your tax situation, account balances, benefit timing, and province or state, so it differs for everyone.
Withdrawal Priority
The Withdrawal Priority section lets you drag and drop your accounts into the order you want them drawn down. Accounts higher in the list are tapped first when your retirement income (pension, CPP/OAS or Social Security, mandatory withdrawals) doesn’t fully cover spending.
For couples, a Balance between spouses toggle alternates withdrawals between partners in $5,000 increments to keep both in the lowest tax brackets.
The optimizer can override this order when it finds a better sequence.
Benefit Timing
Set when government benefits start:
- CPP / Social Security: Slider from age 60–70 (Canada) or 62–70 (US). Each month you delay increases your payment. cinder.fi shows the percentage adjustment vs. the normal age (e.g., “+42% vs age 65”).
- OAS: Slider from age 65–70 (Canada only). Each month deferred increases payments by 0.6%.
For couples, each partner has independent sliders. The optimizer can find the best claiming ages for both.
Tax Optimization Toggles
RRSP Meltdown / Roth Conversion (Pro)
Activates systematic withdrawals from registered accounts in early retirement to fill low tax brackets. Choose a target bracket — cinder.fi withdraws just enough to top it up each year without going over. This reduces future mandatory withdrawals (RRIF minimums or RMDs) and can avoid OAS clawback or IRMAA surcharges. See the RRSP meltdown guide or Roth conversion guide. The approach builds on Bengen’s original 4% research by pairing safe withdrawal rates with tax-efficient sequencing.
Max TFSA / Max Roth in Retirement (Pro)
Withdraws extra from registered accounts each year to max out TFSA or Roth IRA contributions. You pay more tax now so future growth is tax-free. Variable Percentage Withdrawal (VPW) also scales withdrawals over time, but by a portfolio percentage formula rather than by filling tax-free accounts.
Spousal RRSP (Canada, Pro)
Redirects RRSP contributions to the lower-income spouse to equalize retirement income and reduce overall tax. See the spousal RRSP guide.
Savings Split (Couples)
Controls how savings are divided between partners during the working years:
- Proportional: each saves in proportion to income
- Max Higher First: fill the higher earner’s tax-advantaged accounts first
- Equal Split: 50/50 regardless of income
Pledged Line of Credit (Pro)
Models a portfolio-backed line of credit as an alternative to selling investments during market downturns. Configure the interest rate, loan-to-value limit, and draw order (borrow first vs. borrow last).
Assumptions & Advanced
Return Assumptions
Set registered and non-registered return rates, inflation, and salary growth. Pro users can enable per-account return rates for more granular modeling (configured on the Accounts page).
Monte Carlo Simulation (Pro)
Run 100–5,000 randomized projections to stress-test your plan against market volatility. Configure the number of simulations and volatility assumptions for registered and non-registered accounts. See the Monte Carlo guide.
Parallel Optimization (Pro)
Uses multiple CPU cores to speed up the optimizer. Most useful for couples’ plans.
Viewing the Impact
After selecting a strategy, switch the projection chart to these views to see the effects:
- Withdrawal sources: which accounts are drawn each year
- Tax analysis: tax composition and effective rate
- Portfolio balance: account balances over time
The Retirement tab’s Summary shows the key metrics, including lifetime tax and estate value. Use Scenarios to run different strategies side by side as scenarios.