Guide
RRIF minimum withdrawals: the table, and what it does to your tax
An RRSP must become a RRIF by the end of the year you turn 71, and from the next year a minimum must come out every year: 5.4% of the balance at 72, rising every year after. The table is public; what it does to a household’s tax and OAS from then on is the part worth running.
The short answer
The minimum is a percentage of the RRIF’s value at the start of the year. It is set by a formula until 71 and by a published table from 72, climbing every year to a flat rate at 95 and beyond. On $500,000 at 72 the minimum is $27,000; on $1,000,000 it is $54,000. You may always take more; you cannot take less.
The table
| Age | Minimum | On $100,000 | On $500,000 | On $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 4.0% | $4,000 | $20,000 | $40,000 |
| 66 | 4.2% | $4,167 | $20,833 | $41,667 |
| 67 | 4.3% | $4,348 | $21,739 | $43,478 |
| 68 | 4.5% | $4,545 | $22,727 | $45,455 |
| 69 | 4.8% | $4,762 | $23,810 | $47,619 |
| 70 | 5.0% | $5,000 | $25,000 | $50,000 |
| 71 | 5.3% | $5,263 | $26,316 | $52,632 |
| 72 | 5.4% | $5,400 | $27,000 | $54,000 |
| 73 | 5.5% | $5,530 | $27,650 | $55,300 |
| 74 | 5.7% | $5,670 | $28,350 | $56,700 |
| 75 | 5.8% | $5,820 | $29,100 | $58,200 |
| 76 | 6.0% | $5,980 | $29,900 | $59,800 |
| 77 | 6.2% | $6,170 | $30,850 | $61,700 |
| 78 | 6.4% | $6,360 | $31,800 | $63,600 |
| 79 | 6.6% | $6,580 | $32,900 | $65,800 |
| 80 | 6.8% | $6,820 | $34,100 | $68,200 |
| 81 | 7.1% | $7,080 | $35,400 | $70,800 |
| 82 | 7.4% | $7,380 | $36,900 | $73,800 |
| 83 | 7.7% | $7,710 | $38,550 | $77,100 |
| 84 | 8.1% | $8,080 | $40,400 | $80,800 |
| 85 | 8.5% | $8,510 | $42,550 | $85,100 |
| 86 | 9.0% | $8,990 | $44,950 | $89,900 |
| 87 | 9.6% | $9,550 | $47,750 | $95,500 |
| 88 | 10.2% | $10,210 | $51,050 | $102,100 |
| 89 | 11.0% | $10,990 | $54,950 | $109,900 |
| 90 | 11.9% | $11,920 | $59,600 | $119,200 |
| 91 | 13.1% | $13,060 | $65,300 | $130,600 |
| 92 | 14.5% | $14,490 | $72,450 | $144,900 |
| 93 | 16.3% | $16,340 | $81,700 | $163,400 |
| 94 | 18.8% | $18,790 | $93,950 | $187,900 |
| 95 | 20.0% | $20,000 | $100,000 | $200,000 |
Before 72 the factor is one divided by the years to ninety; from 72 it is the prescribed table. Both are as the planner applies them for the selected tax year.
What the minimums do to an Ontario couple
The Ontario couple, 52 and 52 today with $570,000 in RRSPs, reach their first minimum at 72 with $545,722 in the first person’s RRIF, in today’s dollars. The minimum that year is $29,469, taxed at a marginal rate of 29.6%. The table follows the account from there: the balance at the start of each year, the minimum, what was actually withdrawn, the marginal rate that year and any OAS recovered.
| Age | Balance at start | Minimum | Minimum amount | Withdrawn | Marginal rate | OAS recovered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | $545,722 | 5.4% | $29,469 | $82,083 | 29.6% | $1,659 |
| 73 | $485,798 | 5.5% | $26,865 | $79,440 | 31.7% | $2,335 |
| 74 | $426,022 | 5.7% | $24,155 | $79,030 | 31.7% | $2,603 |
| 75 | $364,145 | 5.8% | $21,193 | $76,415 | 31.7% | $2,837 |
| 76 | $302,304 | 6.0% | $18,078 | $78,159 | 37.2% | $3,279 |
| 77 | $236,100 | 6.2% | $14,567 | $82,466 | 37.2% | $3,922 |
| 78 | $162,762 | 6.4% | $10,352 | $87,506 | 37.2% | $4,632 |
| 79 | $81,249 | 6.6% | $5,346 | $81,249 | 37.2% | $4,637 |
| 80 | $0 | 6.8% | $0 | $0 | 29.6% | $0 |
| 81 | $0 | 7.1% | $0 | $0 | 29.6% | $232 |
| 82 | $0 | 7.4% | $0 | $0 | 29.6% | $495 |
| 83 | $0 | 7.7% | $0 | $0 | 29.6% | $778 |
| 84 | $0 | 8.1% | $0 | $0 | 29.6% | $1,050 |
| 85 | $0 | 8.5% | $0 | $0 | 29.6% | $1,342 |
The clawback trigger
From 72, the forced withdrawals push the first person’s net income over the OAS recovery threshold, and part of OAS is repaid in each year the table shows a figure in the last column. This is the usual shape: the minimums rise with age while the balance is still large, so the clawback arrives in the seventies even for a household that never paid it while working.
The younger spouse’s age
A RRIF’s minimum can be based on the younger spouse’s age, an election made when the RRIF is opened. It lowers the minimum in every year, which keeps more in the account for longer. For the Quebec couple, 61 and 59, 2 years apart, with everything else held the same, the election lowers lifetime income tax by $13,997 in today’s dollars and leaves $35,632 less at the end of the plan. The election matters most when the spouses’ ages differ by several years and the household does not need the minimum to live on.
Converting earlier
Nothing stops you converting before 71, or simply withdrawing from the RRSP in the years before, and for some households drawing it down early lowers lifetime tax and the clawback together. That is the RRSP meltdown, and it pays for some households and not others.
Computed with Retirafy’s engine on the 2025 federal and provincial tables, in today’s dollars. How the projection works.
See your own RRIF minimums, year by yearFree for one household. No card, no password.