Author Topic: CPP Calculator  (Read 2472 times)

wordsnotnumbers

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CPP Calculator
« on: August 26, 2020, 02:04:04 PM »
Has anyone tried this calculator yet? It got some press in the Globe and Mail the other week, so I ordered my Service Canada login key so that I could check it out.

https://cppcalculator.com/


Mighty Eyebrows

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2020, 11:50:47 AM »
That site was developed by Doug Runchey, who is probably the most well-known commentator on CPP out there at the moment. I haven't used it myself (I don't want to set up a login for another website right now). There is discussion here, though:

https://www.financialwisdomforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=122386

There are a few other CPP calculator spreadsheets available, but I am not sure how accurate they all are.

BNgarden

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2020, 03:03:25 PM »
I've used Doug Runchey's formula to set up my own spreadsheet in the past, but when I got closer to retirement, had him do calculations several times for different scenarios for greater accuracy.  (He will use months instead of general years to get the calculation much closer to actual than I would bother with.)

When I got into retirement, I had him re-run a few scenarios to check my planned dates for receiving CPP.  (He provides tables showing cumulative totals of payments starting different months / years of age to show which ages provide the greatest total amounts, given different lifespans.)
« Last Edit: August 30, 2020, 08:19:29 AM by BNgarden »

Prairie Gal

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2020, 03:14:52 PM »
Do I read correctly that the CPP calculator is free? I also had Doug run some numbers for me several years ago, but he charged for that service.

Prairie Gal

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #4 on: November 15, 2020, 01:26:07 PM »
Just thought I would provide a link to a video talking about when to take CPP. They are also running some kind of interactive class, which he talks about at the end. I don't have any info on that.

https://www.smartmoneysociety.com/when-is-the-best-time-to-start-your-canada-pension-plan/

Mighty Eyebrows

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2020, 08:58:12 PM »
Just thought I would provide a link to a video talking about when to take CPP. They are also running some kind of interactive class, which he talks about at the end. I don't have any info on that.

https://www.smartmoneysociety.com/when-is-the-best-time-to-start-your-canada-pension-plan/

Interesting. I believe that is the person working with Doug Runchey on the online calculator. I am not sure a "course" is necessary as there are a lot of good articles out there already. I guess some people prefer video format, though.


Prairie Gal

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2020, 05:13:30 AM »
Just thought I would provide a link to a video talking about when to take CPP. They are also running some kind of interactive class, which he talks about at the end. I don't have any info on that.

https://www.smartmoneysociety.com/when-is-the-best-time-to-start-your-canada-pension-plan/

Interesting. I believe that is the person working with Doug Runchey on the online calculator. I am not sure a "course" is necessary as there are a lot of good articles out there already. I guess some people prefer video format, though.

Yes, Doug Runchey is one of the instructors. I ended up signing up for the course. It is five Zoom sessions and a one on one consult.

Chaplin

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2020, 10:37:19 AM »
I used one that contains the following attribution (and link to find it for yoursefl):

Quote
Calculator created by John Robertson, author of The Value of Simple               
More info and updates/fixes here:  http://www.holypotato.net/?p=1694   
Based on the work of Doug Runchey, built with the help of Sandi Martin

I found it very useful because it helps address the question of ER and how that affects your CPP due to the extra dropout years.

Mighty Eyebrows

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2020, 12:50:06 PM »
http://www.holypotato.net/?p=1694   
Based on the work of Doug Runchey, built with the help of Sandi Martin
I played with the HolyPotato calculator, but I don't think it has all the recent updates to the CPP system.

These two are also out there:

longinvest
https://www.financialwisdomforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121323
This one doesn't do childrearing dropouts, so it will be somewhat pessimistic.

Measure of a Plan
https://themeasureofaplan.com/canadian-retirement-benefits-calculator-cpp-and-oas/
This one seems somewhat over optimistic. I asked Doug in a different forum about it and he thought it had some errors in the calculation. That is too bad because I like how it is set up.

There is also this one, but I think it is outdated as well:
http://pabroon.blogspot.com/2014/03/cpp-calculator.html

« Last Edit: November 17, 2020, 12:53:09 PM by Mighty Eyebrows »

Mighty Eyebrows

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Re: CPP Calculator
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2020, 11:16:36 AM »
I played with the HolyPotato calculator, but I don't think it has all the recent updates to the CPP system.

I did a bit of digging through the guts of the spreadsheets and the HolyPotato calculator should actually be pretty accurate if you update the YMPE (Column Q) numbers from 2016 to 2021. The way he calculates the "enhanced" CPP is not really the correct method, but it gives a close enough approximation in my case, at least (it will only have a small impact for a number of years). Anyone using the childrearing dropout by upping the percentage in cell G2 should check that the years you want dropped out are actually low enough to be sorted out.

The LongInvest calculator doesn't do the childrearing dropout or any of the "enhanced" changes, but should be very accurate outside of that. For my purposes, I think of it as a lower bound.

"How to" explained here by Doug Runchey:

https://retirehappy.ca/how-to-calculate-your-cpp-retirement-pension/

https://retirehappy.ca/enhanced-cpp/


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!