Every figure our tools and reports produce rests on a mix of facts we know about you and estimates we have to make. We publish all of them here, with sources, because a number you can't explain isn't worth showing you.
Things you tell us: your age, income, savings, debts, and the coverage you already carry. These come straight from you, which is why honest inputs matter.
Things no one knows for certain: future investment returns, inflation, and tax rules decades out. We use conservative, published, third-party guidelines, never house numbers we made up.
Every calculation here is designed and pressure-tested by FS² advisors who are licensed and actively meeting with clients across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. And the advisor who follows up on your results is one of those same people, not a call centre, and not a stranger who paid for your name.
That last part matters. Some "free plan" tools are lead-generation services: software builds the plan, then your contact information is routed to whichever advisor paid for your area. Ours isn't. We also do two things those tools generally don't, we tell you up front exactly who will contact you and let you opt out, and we use your numbers only to help you, never to surprise you with a call you didn't expect.
Rather than promise a single optimistic number, we let you pick an investing style, or enter your own rate. Each preset is shown the way you'd see it on a statement, before inflation, net of typical fees. It sits between FP Canada's deliberately conservative 2025 guideline and long-run market history.
| Investing style | Roughly | Return, before inflation |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | mostly safer, fixed-income holdings | ~4.5% |
| Balanced (default) | an even mix of growth and safety | ~6% |
| Growth | mostly equities | ~7% |
| Aggressive | all equities | ~8% |
FP Canada's 2025 guideline puts long-term equities at 6.6% and fixed income at 3.4% (deliberately conservative, before fees); long-run market history has run higher. Our presets sit between the two, net of typical fees, and are shown before inflation. In the projection we subtract ~2% inflation and show today's dollars. These are long-term (10+ year) planning estimates, not a promise, and deliberately not the last year or two, which no one should assume repeats. You can set your own rate anytime.¹
The basic snapshot answers one question, short, on track, or ahead, and keeps the math simple and conservative on purpose, so the tailored plan almost always comes out better.
| Assumption | What we use |
|---|---|
| Inflation | 2.1% / yr |
| Sustainable withdrawal rate | 4% / yr |
| Income drawn until | age 90 |
| Dollars shown in | today's dollars |
| CPP / OAS / pension | your estimate |
Inflation per the Bank of Canada target range and FP Canada guideline.¹ ² The basic snapshot does not yet optimize RRSP vs. TFSA vs. non-registered drawdown, CPP/OAS timing, or pension splitting, the full analysis does, and those levers typically raise your sustainable after-tax income.
The basic snapshot sizes your life coverage with a straightforward capital-needs method: income to replace + debts to clear + final expenses + anything for the kids, minus what you already have. Because it doesn't discount future income to present value or net out survivor CPP and group benefits, it reads slightly high, the full analysis brings it down and adds the pieces a basic tool can't see:
| Coverage | How a full plan sizes it |
|---|---|
| Life, income | replace after-tax income so your family keeps its standard of living |
| Life, debt | enough to clear outstanding debts |
| Critical illness | commonly ~100% of annual after-tax income, cancer, heart attack and stroke make up roughly 70% of claims³ |
| Disability | commonly ~65% of pre-tax income to age 65, about 1 in 3 working Canadians face a disability of 90+ days⁴ |
We also flag a specific blind spot: lender mortgage / creditor insurance. It can be underwritten after a claim rather than before, its payout shrinks while the premium stays level, and the bank, not your family, is the beneficiary. The 2008 CBC Marketplace investigation "In Denial" documented claims denied after a death; Alberta now requires a licence to sell it.⁵
Your inputs are used to build your report and nothing else, never sold, never shared. We ask for a mobile number to deliver your report securely (a one-time code confirms it's really you). It's the number you'd like to be reached on, but if you tell us not to call, we never will; the number is then used only to send your report. You choose, up front, whether an advisor follows up.
This page is for general education and reflects assumptions used in our preliminary tools, it is not personalized financial advice. Assumptions are reviewed and may change as guidelines and tax rules are updated. FS² advisors are individually licensed in Manitoba; the corporation is licensed in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
