Withdrawing from a RIF or LIF

Learn the ins-and-outs of withdrawals from Retirement Income Fund and Life Income Fund accounts

Registered Retirement Income Fund (RIF)

How much can you withdraw from your RIF and when?

You must start withdrawing money from your RIF in the year after you open it.

The federal government sets the minimum amount you must take out of your RIF every year. It’s based on a percentage of the value of your RIF. While there is a minimum amount you have to take out each year, there is no maximum amount.

Here’s how it works:

• The minimum amount increases as you get older.
• If your spouse is younger, you can use their age to calculate your minimum amount. The lower the age, the lower the minimum amount and the less income tax you’ll pay on the withdrawals.
• You can choose to make regular monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual withdrawals.
• All withdrawals are fully taxable.

Life Income Fund (LIF)

What is a LIF?

• A LIF is a registered fund that acts as an extension of your locked-in retirement account (LIRA) or supplemental pension plan. Funds transferred to a LIF are sheltered from tax and can be withdrawn to provide retirement income.

Minimum annual withdrawal

• The government requires you to make a minimum withdrawal each year. The percentage used to calculate the amount increases with your age. Withdrawals that exceed the minimum amount are taxed as income.

Maximum annual withdrawal

• The maximum withdrawal you can make is calculated based on your age, the balance of your LIF, and the LIF reference rate that is set each year. There is an annual limit on how much you can withdraw from your LIF, unlike a RIF.

How to Submit the Requests

Search for client contact in the HubSpot Search bar, open client contact card and find the client’s CRM Contact record page.

You can submit a request to Withdraw funds from a LIF/RIF by navigating to the Servicing (Service Request) extension, selecting Cash and Security Management, and then selecting Withdraw. 

Step 1:

The first property you will be asked to specify is the Request Type. The four request types are:

• Eft-Out
• Withdraw to Investment Account 
• Send Cheque to Address
• Send Cheque to Third party

Step 2:

• The second property you will be asked to specify is the From Account. 
• Select the LIF or RIF account

 

Step 3:

• Since LIFs/RIFs accounts are registered accounts an, Offset account must be selected, this is typically the associated cash account.
• If you select withdraw to an investment account, select the To account. 

Step 4:

• If the Request is an EFT, select the bank account (Skip this step if not applicable).

Step 5:

You will be prompted to specify: 

• Amount Type: Is the withdrawal Full or Partial?
• Source of funds: Are the funds from the assigned Optimize Model, or All?

Step 6:

You will be asked to specify the:

• Gross Amount (IF LIF: Ensure that this amount is below the account maximum)
• Amount From Minimum
• Whether the Minimum is Taxable or Non Taxable

You will also be able to add additional withholding tax if desired.