I've been preparing for our first drawdown, and one thing has me confused. We retired pre-55 and I have had salary continuance up to and including May of this year. This is my spouse's first year of zero non-investment income, and will be one of two such years in her life - my pension will be shared with her in two years when I turn 55. My logic says to withdraw some of her RRSP this year as her projected lifetime lowest income year, but the withdrawal optimizer does not recommend that. Not sure if I missed a button or misfired a synapse - feel free to look at our most recent run :)

Did you set up your drawdown the way your logic tells you for the TIME MACHINE? You can do that with an AUTOMATIC withdrawal.

If you did, did the Withdrawal Optimizer beat that scenario?

If it does, then look at what it does, and learn from it.

If it doesn't, then your logic beats it, and you're good to go.