Using a Younger Spouse's Age for Your RRIF Minimum

How the CRA calculates the RRIF minimum

Every RRIF has a minimum amount that must be paid out each calendar year. The calculation has the same few steps every time.

Step 1: take the value on January 1. Use the fair market value of the property in the RRIF at the start of the year, leaving out any locked-in annuity contracts held inside the fund.

Step 2: find the age on January 1. The age is your age in whole years at January 1, not your age on your birthday or at year-end. If you made the spouse-age election, it is your spouse's or common-law partner's age at January 1 instead.

Step 3: look up the prescribed factor. At age 70 or younger, the factor is 1 ÷ (90 − age). That gives 2.86% at 55, 3.33% at 60, 4.00% at 65 and 5.00% at 70. From 71 onward, a fixed table applies (as of October 2026): 5.28% at 71, 5.40% at 72, 5.53% at 73, rising to 6.82% at 80, 11.92% at 90 and 20.00% from 95 on. The full chart is in our post on RRIF minimum withdrawal rates by age.

Step 4: multiply. Value on January 1 × factor.

Step 5: add any locked-in annuity payments. If the RRIF holds a locked-in annuity contract, the payments it makes during the year are added on top.

One exception: the minimum is nil in the year the RRIF is set up. The first required payment is in the following calendar year.

What the spouse-age election does

The only thing the election changes is the age used in step 2. Everything else stays the same: the January 1 value, the factor table, the locked-in annuity add-on. Because lower ages have lower factors, a younger spouse's age means a lower minimum.

The rules are short:

• Who elects: the RRIF holder (the "first annuitant").
• Whose age: your spouse's or common-law partner's.
• When: before the institution makes any payment out of the fund. In practice, that means on the RRIF application when the account is opened.
• Age limit: none. A 55-year-old spouse gives a factor of 1 ÷ 35, or 2.86%. A 50-year-old spouse gives 1 ÷ 40, or 2.50%.
• Can it be changed? No. Once payments have started, the election stays in place.

If your spouse is older than you, the election would raise the minimum, so it is normally only used when the spouse is younger.

A worked example: 71 and 60, $500,000

You are 71 on January 1, your spouse is 60, and the RRIF is worth $500,000 on January 1.

Using your age: $500,000 × 5.28% = $26,400.

Using your spouse's age: $500,000 × 1 ÷ (90 − 60) = $500,000 ÷ 30 = $16,667 (3.33%).

The required withdrawal drops by $9,733 in the first year. The gap does not stay fixed, because both ages move up by one each year and the two factor schedules rise at different speeds. Here are the first five years, assuming only the minimum is withdrawn at the start of each year and the rest earns 5% a year:

Factors under 71 are 1 ÷ (90 − age), shown rounded; the minimums use the exact fraction. Balances on January 1 of each year: own-age path $500,000, $497,280, $493,948, $489,965, $485,293; spouse-age path $500,000, $507,500, $514,500, $520,931, $526,719. The 5% return is an illustration, not a forecast.

Over five years, the own-age schedule requires $136,593 of withdrawals and the spouse-age schedule $92,094, a difference of $44,499. At the start of year 6, the spouse-age RRIF is worth about $531,784 versus $479,901, roughly $51,883 more still sheltered.

That last number is the key to understanding the election: the money was not saved from tax, it was kept in the RRIF. It will be taxed when it comes out later, or when the RRIF is wound up.

Tips and tricks worth knowing

These are considerations to discuss with your advisor, not a recommendation for every household.

1. Decide at setup, because you can't decide later

The election has to be in place before the first payment. Ask your institution for it on the RRIF application, and check the first statement or payment schedule to confirm the minimum was calculated on your spouse's age. If the first payment goes out on your own age, the option is gone for that RRIF.

2. A lower minimum is a floor, not a ceiling

You can always withdraw more than the minimum. Electing the spouse's age does not lock you into a smaller income; it only lowers what you are forced to take. In a year with a big expense, you simply withdraw more. In a quiet year, you take the minimum and leave the rest invested.

3. Flexibility can help with income-tested benefits

A smaller forced withdrawal gives you more control over your taxable income each year. That can matter if you are managing the OAS recovery tax (clawback) or income-tested benefits, or trying to fill a lower tax bracket with other income first, such as non-registered withdrawals or CPP.

4. Deferral delays tax, it does not erase it

Every dollar left in the RRIF will be taxable eventually. Taking less now can mean larger minimums later (the factors climb steeply after 80) and a larger balance that can end up taxed in a single year, for example at death. For some households, drawing more in lower-income years is the better trade. The election is a tool for flexibility, not a goal in itself.

5. Watch withholding on anything above the minimum

No tax is withheld on the minimum amount. Anything above it is subject to withholding, and one rate applies to the whole excess based on its size (as of October 2026): 10% up to $5,000, 20% over $5,000 to $15,000, and 30% over $15,000. In Quebec, the federal rates are 5%, 10% and 15%, plus 14% Quebec withholding.

In the example above, if you elect the spouse's age but still want $26,400 in year 1, the extra $9,733 falls in the 20% band: about $1,947 withheld outside Quebec, or about $2,336 in Quebec (10% federal + 14%). Splitting one request into several smaller payments does not lower the rate, because the CRA looks at the total you asked for. Withholding is a prepayment, not the final tax: it is reconciled on your return. The flip side is that minimum payments have nothing withheld, so if your marginal rate is well above zero, plan for a balance owing or instalments.

6. Take payments later in the year

The minimum only has to be paid out by December 31. Scheduling it late in the year, or monthly rather than in January, keeps the money invested longer. The trade-off is that you may need the cash earlier.

7. You don't have to sell to withdraw

Withdrawals can be made in kind: investments are moved from the RRIF to a non-registered or TFSA account (if you have room) at their fair market value, and that value counts toward your minimum and is taxable as usual. This can avoid selling a position you want to keep.

8. Converted early? Excess can go back to your RRSP

Until the end of the year you turn 71, amounts above the year's minimum can be transferred from your RRIF back to your own RRSP. If you converted only part of your RRSP early, see converting to a RRIF while keeping an RRSP.

9. The pension credits still apply

From age 65, RRIF payments qualify for the pension income credit and for pension income splitting with your spouse, whichever age is used for the minimum. The election changes how much must come out, not how that income is treated. More in RRIF at 65 and the pension income credit.

The short version

• RRIF minimum = January 1 value × prescribed factor, plus any locked-in annuity payments. Nil in the setup year.
• At 70 or younger the factor is 1 ÷ (90 − age); from 71 a fixed table applies.
• You can base the factor on a younger spouse's or common-law partner's age, with no age limit, but only if you elect before the first payment.
• At 71 with a 60-year-old spouse and $500,000, the minimum drops from $26,400 to $16,667.
• A lower minimum defers tax; it does not remove it. You can always withdraw more.

To run the full schedule with your own balance, see the RRIF Calculator.

Compare Your Age and Your Spouse's Age

Enter both ages and your RRIF balance to see the minimum each way, year by year, and how much more stays sheltered with the spouse-age election.