Guide
CPP at 60 vs 65 vs 70: the after-tax lifetime comparison
Every month you wait past sixty-five raises your CPP by 0.7%, and every month you start early cuts it by 0.6%: 64.0% of the pension at sixty, 142.0% at seventy. That is the easy part. The question is what the wait costs in savings drawn early and what the larger pension costs in tax and clawback later, so two households run all three starts to the end of their plans.
The short answer
For the single person in British Columbia, CPP is $7,680 a year at sixty, $12,000 at sixty-five and $17,040 at seventy, in today’s dollars. For the single person, waiting to seventy leaves the most after tax at the end of the plan. If the plan ended at 80 instead, starting at sixty would win.
The rule
CPP is quoted at 65. Start earlier and the pension is reduced by 0.6% for every month before that; start later and it is increased by 0.7% for every month after, up to seventy. Someone entitled to the maximum, $17,196 a year at sixty-five, would get 64.0% of that from sixty and 142.0% from seventy. The adjustment is permanent and the pension is indexed to prices from the day it starts.
Break-even is the wrong question
The usual comparison adds up the payments and finds the age at which waiting has paid more in total. It ignores three things: the pension is taxed, a larger pension can push you into the OAS recovery tax, and the years you wait are paid for by drawing on savings that would otherwise keep growing. The lines below are after income tax, from the whole year-by-year projection.
A single person in British Columbia
The single person in British Columbia, 58, with $420,000 in RRSPs and $530,000 of savings altogether, retiring at 62. The three starts, everything else unchanged:
| Start | CPP in the first year | Lifetime CPP after tax | Lifetime income tax | Left at the end, after tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPP at 60 | $7,680 | $267,571 | $295,223 | $2,100,320 |
| CPP at 65 | $12,000 | $301,847 | $297,681 | $2,106,794 |
| CPP at 70 | $17,040 | $346,765 | $298,277 | $2,114,903 |
For the single person in British Columbia, waiting to seventy leaves the most after tax at the end of the plan.
Read the crossings: the 65 start has paid more in total, after tax, from age 78; the 70 start has paid more in total, after tax, from age 81.
The bridge
Waiting is paid for out of savings. Between retiring at 62 and seventy, the plan that waits withdraws $315,671 from her accounts against $242,383 in the plan that starts at sixty: $73,288 more, drawn earlier and taxed in those years. That is the cost the larger pension has to repay, and in this plan it does.
A couple in Ontario
The Ontario couple, 52 and 52, with $570,000 in RRSPs and $798,000 of savings altogether, retiring at 65. The three starts, everything else unchanged:
| Start | CPP in the first year | Lifetime CPP after tax | Lifetime income tax | Left at the end, after tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPP at 60 | $9,728 | $354,570 | $1,959,145 | $5,828,686 |
| CPP at 65 | $15,200 | $383,401 | $1,961,519 | $5,830,977 |
| CPP at 70 | $21,584 | $456,582 | $1,999,768 | $5,874,014 |
For the Ontario couple, waiting to seventy leaves the most after tax at the end of the plan.
Read the crossings: the 65 start has paid more in total, after tax, from age 82; the 70 start has paid more in total, after tax, from age 81.
When starting early wins
A shorter life changes the answer. With the single person’s plan ending at 80, what is left after tax is $1,717,600 for the start at sixty, $1,700,811 at sixty-five and $1,682,422 at seventy: the early start wins. Health, family history and whether a survivor depends on the pension all belong in this decision; the model can only show what each path is worth if you live to the age you plan to.
Computed with Retirafy’s engine on the 2025 federal and provincial tables, in today’s dollars. How the projection works.
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