Getting Started with Cinderfi

Cinderfi is a retirement planning calculator that projects your financial future year by year — including taxes, government benefits, account drawdowns, and estate value. It works for both Canadians and Americans, with full tax engines for all 13 Canadian provinces and 50 US states.

This guide walks you through setup and your first projection.

Step 1: Complete the Onboarding Wizard

When you first visit Cinderfi, a 12-step wizard collects the essential information for your projection:

1. Name — Used to personalize your plan
2. Birth date — Determines benefit eligibility ages and projection timeline
3. Country and region — Selects the correct tax engine (Canada: province/territory, US: state)
4. Retirement age — When you plan to stop working
5. Life expectancy — How long your plan needs to last (default: 95)
6. Income — Current employment income
7. Account balances — RRSP, TFSA, non-registered (Canada) or 401(k), IRA, Roth, taxable (US)
8. Partner info — Optional: add a spouse for couple-specific modeling
9. Government benefits — CPP/OAS claiming age (Canada) or Social Security estimate (US)
10. Spending target — Annual spending in retirement
11. Budget import — Optional: import real spending data
12. Sample data — Optional: load sample data to explore the tool first

You can skip steps and come back later. The projection runs as soon as you have enough data.

Step 2: Explore Your Projection

After the wizard, you’ll land on the Home tab with your Cinder Score — a 0–100 retirement readiness rating. Navigate using the four main tabs:

Home

Your Cinder Score, personalized insights, and quick what-if tools (True Cost simulator, Future Value simulator). The score updates in real time as you adjust your plan.

Planning

The full projection view with 15 chart tabs:

• Summary — Key metrics (estate value, lifetime tax, depletion probability)
• Income — Stacked bar chart of retirement income sources
• Spending vs Income — Surplus/shortfall each year
• Withdrawal Sources — Which accounts are drawn and when
• Tax — Tax composition with effective rate overlay
• Balances — Account balances over time
• Monte Carlo — Probabilistic success bands (Pro)
• Break-Even — CPP/SS claiming age analysis
• And 7 more tabs for contributions, estate, and detailed tables

The Strategy Bar at the top controls your withdrawal strategy, tax optimization toggles, and assumptions.

Budget

Set monthly spending targets across 16 categories, import transactions (CSV, OFX, YNAB), and track actual vs. planned spending. Three spending modes feed into your projection:

• Manual — Enter a number directly
• Budget Plan — Uses your category budgets
• Actual — Uses real transaction data

Accounts

View all accounts by type, track individual account balances, see net worth, and get personalized account insights (contribution priorities, clawback warnings).

Step 3: Adjust Your Strategy

The Planning view’s Strategy Bar lets you toggle key options:

• Withdrawal strategy — Minimize Tax, Maximize Estate, Equalize Income, or Manual Order
• RRSP Meltdown / Roth Conversion — Systematic early withdrawals to fill low brackets
• Max TFSA / Max Roth in Retirement — Prioritize tax-free account funding
• PLOC (Pledged Line of Credit) — Use portfolio-backed borrowing during downturns
• Spending decline — Model decreasing spending in later retirement years

Each toggle updates the projection instantly. Use the chart tabs to see the impact on taxes, balances, and income.

Step 4: Compare Scenarios

Click + New Projection to create scenario variants. Choose from 16 templates:

• Retire 5 years earlier/later
• Coast FIRE
• Lower/higher spending
• Conservative/bull markets
• RRSP meltdown or Roth conversion strategies
• Different CPP/SS claiming ages
• Downsize at 65

Or create custom scenarios with any combination of changes. Click Compare to see scenarios side by side.

Step 5: Optimize (Pro)

The Optimize My Strategy button (Pro feature) runs an automated search across all strategy combinations — withdrawal orders, meltdown settings, TFSA toggles, PLOC configurations — to find the optimal mix for your situation. Results appear as one-click presets: Minimize Tax, Maximize Estate, or Maximize Funded Years.

Free vs Pro

Free (no account required):

• Full projection engine with real tax brackets (all CA provinces + US states)
• Budget & transaction sync (YNAB, CSV, OFX, Plaid)
• True Cost & Future Value simulator
• CPP/OAS & Social Security claiming optimization
• Cinder Score (0–100 retirement readiness)
• Backtest success rate (124+ market periods since 1871)
• 4 interactive charts (balances, income, spending, withdrawals)
• Primary residence & home equity modeling
• 2 scenario comparisons (with free account)
• Cloud sync (optional free account)

Pro ($12/mo or $99/yr):

• Everything in Free, plus:
• Strategy optimizer (CPP/SS timing, withdrawal order, meltdown, TFSA, spousal splits)
• Monte Carlo simulations (1,000+ runs)
• 11 additional charts (tax, estate, Monte Carlo, break-even, contributions, and more)
• Historical backtesting (accumulation, retirement, or full lifecycle)
• RRSP meltdown / Roth conversion modeling
• Unlimited scenarios
• Pension income splitting (couples)
• Spending strategy comparison (Fixed, Guyton-Klinger, VPW)
• Rental income properties (up to 3)
• SBLOC strategy
• Per-account return rates
• PDF report export
• Priority support

Next Steps

• Understanding your Cinder Score
• Withdrawal strategies explained
• Setting up scenarios
• Budget and spending modes
• Account types and tax treatment