How Chapterwise calculations work.

Deterministic projections

A deterministic projection follows one disclosed set of assumptions year by year. It models household income, spending, account activity, tax and benefits across the planning horizon. It is useful for understanding mechanics and timing, but it is not a forecast of what markets will do.

Every deterministic projected year must reconcile within $0.99: sources of cash, taxes, spending, contributions, withdrawals and ending balances must agree within that tolerance.

Confidence Analysis and market paths

Confidence Analysis repeats a plan across seeded investment-return paths to show sensitivity to sequence-of-returns risk. Interactive strategy comparisons currently use 150 or 300 paths. The advanced analysis workspace is configurable from 100 to 25,000 paths. The selected path count, seed and assumptions are part of the result so a run can be reproduced.

A funded path retains assets through the selected planning horizon while applying the plan's supported spending and strategy rules. The displayed share is not a probability guarantee and should not be read as certainty about markets or life.

Inflation, tax and benefits

Inflation and investment-return assumptions are explicit plan inputs. Amounts may be displayed in today's or future dollars, and the chosen basis must be read with the result.

The governed 2026 rules package covers supported Canadian federal and provincial tax calculations, CPP and OAS treatment, registered and non-registered accounts, RRSP-to-RRIF conversion and TFSA treatment. Rules carry effective dates and automated reference tests. Chapterwise does not silently assume maximum CPP; users provide or refine their benefit information.

Sources, versioning and limits

Rules version: 2026. Effective date: January 1, 2026. Last methodology review: August 4, 2026. Primary sources include the Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada; links are listed below.

Results depend on input quality and supported rules. They cannot know future returns, inflation, legislation, health, longevity or household decisions. Chapterwise provides educational planning estimates, not individualized financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Confirm important decisions with qualified professionals.

Authoritative sources

• CRA — Current federal income-tax rates and brackets
• Service Canada — When to start CPP
• Service Canada — OAS program toolkit
• Service Canada — OAS recovery tax
• CRA — Minimum RRIF withdrawals
• Bengen (1994) — Historical withdrawal-rate research