Learning Hub

If you've updated household details like income, family members, or other key information but don’t see these changes reflected in your plan, there's a simple reason: household updates do not automatically apply to saved plans or plans in progress. How to Ensure Your Household Updates Are Reflected To make sure your updated household information appears in your plan, follow these steps: Update your household details  and click Save Changes . Once saved, go to the Clients  tab

Secure your retirement with a smart withdrawal strategy. Learn how Milestones Retirement Insights makes it simple and efficient.

The OAS clawback kicks in later due to strategic income deferrals, with taxable income exceeding thresholds during specific retirement phase

Incorporating rental property income into your Milestones Retirement Insights plan is a straightforward process that can significantly boost

Exploring Fund Depletion Order in Accordance with Retirement Status Input Question : If one 's input is "not retired", does the Income Summary/ Gross Income Breakdown algorithm automatically stipulate that non-registered funds are to be exclusively depleted, before registered funds are used and depleted in full, followed by TFSA funds? That is the result I get when inputting "a retirement date of 2022; however if I input "Already Retired" I get a layering approach.    Answer

Understanding the Allocation of Savings Contributions and the Automatic Creation of Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) in Milestones Retirement Insights Question: Milestones Retirement Insights automatically sets up a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) in our client's plan. Is this where the "savings contribution" is allocated to? As I haven't set up either of these in this particular plan, I’m uncertain as to why savings contributions are being debited and where they are being a

Exploring Strategies for Annuity Integration and Optimal Allocation of Inherited Funds Question : What options are available for reflecting the annuity purchase she plans to make at the age of 75? Additionally, I want to explore alternatives for investing in my clients inheritance currently held in a non-registered account; what are some recommended options for this consideration? Answer: Annuity Purchase Options: Non-Registered Annuity: You can add a custom income source t

Regarding Post-Retirement Contributions to RRSPs and TFSAs Question: Does the Milestones Retirement Insights cease all contributions upon reaching retirement age, despite the possibility of continuing contributions to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs)? Answer: Once retired, we assume all RRSPs are converted to Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs). Additionally, whenever there is an opportunity, the TFSA is automatically t

Understanding Variances Between Year-End and Year-Beginning Amounts Question:  Why are the amounts at the end of the year not the same as the beginning of the year? Answer:  A key feature of our output is the adjustment of future values to present-day dollars, ensuring that the figures account for changes in purchasing power over time. To achieve this, we apply the inflation rate (defaulted to 2%, configurable in “Advanced Settings”) to discount the ending values of each year

Exploring Automatic Assumptions Regarding Survivor Access to Scenario Assets Question: Does the software automatically assume all scenario assets are available for the surviving spouse in a "married" scenario? Answer:  The software simply projects assets out to mortality and then calculates a deemed disposition, and investable assets net of tax, probate, etc. You could run a plan for you and your current spouse, then look at the mortality year in the detailed ledgers for each

Question:  I have a client who ONLY has RRSP assets (in this case, very large RRSP assets). No N/R, no TFSA. I need help in understanding why, in the case we only have RRSP assets, why the registered funds first strategy is the worst option. And also, what does the software do with the other two strategies when there are no non-reg or TFSA assets. This is the 3rd time this has occurred, so I need to better understand this. I know for these cases, that the “order of asset with

Question:  The Key Consideration talks about the “average” amount of Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) taken over the entirety of the projection, but the actual annual RRIF withdrawn each year will vary from this number. The Key Consideration is just providing you with an idea of the annual average amount. When we review the RRIF payments from ages 72-93, the RRIF payments total $16,780 and the balance is $0 at age 95. I am having a hard time explaining (he is an engin

Question:   How does the Comparison of Milestones feature in our software stack up against similar functionalities in other software programs? Answer:  Milestones Retirement Insights was built by practicing advisors, for other advisors. It offers a very short “time to value” proposition, allowing users to create a practical retirement withdrawal plan in minutes. This feature is particularly useful for serving households with retirement income concerns and advisors who don’t h

Ensuring Accuracy in Reflecting Current Value of Future Financial Data Question: How does your output ensure accuracy in reflecting the current value of future financial data? Answer: Our output employs a crucial feature: adjusting future values to present-day dollars. This process involves applying the inflation rate, defaulted to 2% and configurable in the "Advanced Settings," to discount the ending values of each year's financial data back to today's dollars. By doing so

Exploring Adjustments to Estate Calculations: Professional Fee Caps Consideration As an advisor, should we consider capping professional fees in version 2.0 of the estate calculation, given that personal income tax, professional fees (at 3% of the gross estate), and probate fees are all included in the calculation? The concern arises from $200,000 in professional fees being added to $7 million of corporate money, potentially skewing the calculation. Am I overlooking any perti

Manual Calculation and Workaround for Alimony Impact on Disposable Income Question: Would it be possible to find a method to manually calculate using the figures provided in the ledger, or is there a workaround that can be programmed into the software to address the issue of reducing the client's gross income for tax purposes, particularly affecting their Old Age Security (OAS), given that the client is not yet receiving Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or OAS and there is no Define

Understanding Inflation Indexing and Present Value Reporting in Milestones Retirement Insights Question: My clients Defined Benefit (DB) pension, Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and Old Age Security (OAS) are all indexed to inflation, yet when I check the year-to-year ledger, the values for these pensions appear constant each year, rather than increasing by the 2% inflation rate as expected. Did I overlook something, or is there a way to account for this within the software? Answe

Optimizing Retirement Drawdown Strategies Question: When I run a report, the results under "Income Summary -- Gross Income Breakdown" show drawdowns of specified dollar amounts from Registered Savings and Non-Registered Savings until the depletion of Non-Registered Savings. At that point, a stipulated dollar amount from the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) starts being drawn down to supplement registered savings to reach the desired disposable retirement income. Are these vari

Handling Canada Savings Bonds Question: Is there a workaround to enter Canada Savings Bonds? Is there a way to add this type of investment? Answer: There isn't a specific feature to track a Canada Savings Bond's coupons and maturity directly within Milestones Retirement Insights. The best approach is to include the bond's face value in the account type matching its registration—either the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), or a non-reg

Understanding Declining Defined Benefit Pension Payments Question: I ran a plan that has a defined benefit pension, but the annual amount declines as the client gets older. If it’s a defined benefit, shouldn’t that amount stay constant? Answer: The annual amount is declining because the pension has indexing turned off. Since all dollar figures in the report are displayed in terms of present value purchasing power, a consistent annual pension payment that is not indexed to inf