FAQ
Last Update: May 23, 2024
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The ffPro app allows you to project the family financial situation of Quebecers over several years.
It’s a unique evaluation tool that supports important financial decisions at any time during one’s working life or retirement.
The ffPro app is intended for individuals and professionals.
Individuals
The app was designed for Quebecers with an average or better understanding of retirement savings, investing and income taxes.
It is also ideal for individuals or families whose primary sources of income are employment, self-employment, investment, retirement or rental income.
Professionals
The app is intended for financial planners, members of the Institute of Financial Planning, whether they’re independent or associated with a financial institution.
- I would like to buy my first home. How much can I afford to borrow since the loan rates could be much higher when I renew my mortgage? Should I use the HBP, the FHSA or a combination of both?
- I’m considering changing jobs, but is it a good deal financially?
- I’d like to start saving for retirement, but should I favour an RRSP or TFSA?
- Can I afford to retire or take phased retirement?
- How much capital do I need to accumulate at retirement to maintain my standard of living?
- How much can I expect to receive from public plans and at what age should I apply for my pension?
- Should I change my asset allocation strategy upon retirement?
- Should I split my pension income with my spouse to reduce our tax burden?
- At what age should I consider transferring my RRSP (for example) to a RRIF and how much can I expect to receive annually thereafter?
- I need to withdraw an additional amount from my investments this year. Should I withdraw it from my RRSP, TFSA or other investments?
- How much spending can I afford each year? Will I run out of money?
- We have two homes that could be designated as principal. We need to sell one of the properties, but we need to choose which one to designate as principal each year. How do we choose?
- I would like to ensure that my spouse won’t be left with anything when I die, considering the income taxes I will have to pay in the year of my death. Is this possible?
- I’d like to leave my estate with a significant amount of money, after taxes. Is this a realistic amount?
- I have a lot of money accumulated in my RRIF that I would like to leave to my children. Should I consider withdrawing the money annually and giving it to them during my lifetime?
Making the right financial decisions that affect your future is hard—but ffPro makes it easier whether you’re a professional or not.
ffPro is much more than a simple tool to project retirement income and investment values. It is an integrated app that gives you an overview of a family’s financial situation to help you make better financial decisions throughout your life. With ffPro, you no longer have to rely on several different small tools for financial planning.
ffPro allows you to include several types of real assets (e.g. a residence or an income property). The app also treats defined benefit pension plans and government plans (OAS and QPP) as assets of the individual and inserts an estimate of the actuarial value of these plans into the projected balance sheet.
Furthermore, ffPro projects annual financial statements and income tax returns. This provides a complete and transparent picture of the projected financial situation, and consequently better information for decision making.
ffPro was designed to give you the most realistic projections possible. Taxation remains the cornerstone of sound financial planning. We have developed some of the industry’s most advanced taxation models for individuals to help you plan more accurately.
Over 60 income, deductions, credit and contribution lines have been incorporated into our federal taxation model, and the provincial model covers more than 50, each of which can be consulted for each projection year. No other solution is this thorough and transparent.
ffPro also calculates several credits and benefits payable to individuals during the year. These include, among others, family allowances and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). This allows the app to calculate projected income taxes on an effective basis, as well as to present an effective marginal income tax rate and its composition.
ffPro lets you develop a succession strategy and project the transfer of after-tax wealth from one generation to the next. In this way, the app helps provide financial security for spouses and relatives.
ffPro also allows you to integrate your parents’ financial profile into your projection, and consequently their inheritance.
ffPro was structured to reflect a family’s unique situation as closely as possible.
The app also makes it possible to effectively compare different scenarios and produce analyses never before seen in the industry.
You’re also not limited by the number of occupations, assets, debts, revenues or expenses that you can enter. You can, for example, enter one employment and one self-employment, or enter information on three RRSP accounts with different profiles.
Data entry for the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), Old Age Security (OAS) and defined benefit pension plans was designed to enable the app to automatically calculate the pension payable at any starting age. This is done while taking into account salary progression and future years of contributions, residence and service. This unique approach provides one-click answers to questions such as when will I be financially independent, or should I delay the start of my government pensions?
ffPro allows you to generate a detailed report including the sections that interest you. Subscribers can print it, download it and share it with their advisor or client.
Yes, the application was designed for use through a browser (Edge, Chrome and Safari, for example) on any platform (computer, tablet or smartphone) and any operating system (Windows and macOS, for example).
However, due to the nature of the application, we recommend using the application on a large enough screen, i.e. on a computer or tablet.
The first 10 days following your registration are free.
After that, the basic subscription for individuals is $12.50 per month and for professionals $83 per month.
You can save 10% by choosing annual payments.
For details, please visit our “Pricing” page.
We have chosen subscription pricing, as opposed to a single lifetime price, because it is better suited to the technology used and the service offered.
Take word processing software, for example. Once you’ve purchased the software, you can use it indefinitely on your computer without the need for updates or ongoing support. In this case, a one-time lifetime price may be justified, as the product is self-contained, doesn’t require internet storage of your data or ongoing updates to function properly.
In contrast, the ffPro web application is dynamic and evolving. It requires periodic updates to keep abreast of the many tax and financial parameters and the latest technologies. What’s more, it offers ongoing support and enhancements that add value over time.
This is why a subscription model is best suited to ffPro. It covers the costs associated with providing these ongoing services and constantly improving the app. As an example, you can consult our “Announcements” page for important changes made to the app in recent months.
For the client, the pricing model has the following advantages:
Continuous Updates and Improvements
With a subscription model, we are able to provide periodic updates and enhancements to our application. This means that our clients always benefit from the latest version of our product.
Alignment of Interests
A subscription ensures continued access to our support during the period of use. It creates a partnership between the client and us, where the client’s success is directly linked to ours.
Affordable Price
Instead of a high initial cost, a subscription model allows users to pay a smaller amount over time, making the app more affordable and accessible to a wider audience.
Once you are registered and logged in to the app, you can visit the “Subscription” page of your account. You’ll be able to choose from the available options and continue the subscription process on Stripe’s secure site.
Yes, you can change or cancel your subscription.
When you subscribe, your commitment is limited to the subscription period. For example, if you choose a monthly subscription, your commitment is limited to one month, and the subscription will automatically renew monthly thereafter.
You can upgrade your subscription during the current subscription period to a professional license, to a yearly subscription or to increase the number of families. If you want to upgrade from a monthly to an annual subscription, you don’t have to wait until the end of the current subscription. The application will credit you with the value of the remaining monthly subscription.
You can also cancel or make a change that reduces the price. In these cases, the cancellation or change will take effect on the date of your next payment, i.e., at the end of the subscription month or year, depending on the payment frequency selected.
To cancel or make a change to your subscription, you can visit the “Subscription” page of your account. You can continue the process on Stripe’s secure site.
After the trial period, or when you cancel a subscription, we retain your data for future subscriptions.
However, we reserve the right to delete your data after an extended period without a subscription. If this is the case, we will contact you by e-mail to let you know in advance.
Please note that we have not deleted any data since the launch of the application in 2021.
Yes, your data is protected using first-class technology and suppliers.
For your subscription payment data, we have chosen Stripe, a world-renowned provider specialized in this field. ffPro does not store any of your credit card information (number, name, etc.) in its own databases.
Your app data is stored in a secure database on a Microsoft Azure server in Canada. The app requires no information about your address, financial institution or account numbers. While using the app, you will have the opportunity to enter your first and last names. This data is encrypted within the database, but you can enter a fictitious name if you wish.
For more details on the security and privacy policies of our suppliers, please visit the “Security” section of our “Privacy Policy” page.
No, we do not share your personal information and data with anyone.
We take privacy very seriously. We only use your data to provide you with the service you expect and to improve your experience.
It’s important to note that our only revenue comes from our clients. We do not sell your data or advertise. Our business model is based on providing quality services to our clients, not on selling data.
We respect your right to privacy and are committed to maintaining the trust you place in us.
For more details on this subject, please visit our “Privacy Policy” page.
The application offers a wide range of possibilities:
Types of Assets
Current assets, term deposits and GICs, portfolio assets, real assets and defined benefit pension plans
Types of Investments
TFSA, FHSA, registered investments and other
Types of Registered Investments
RRSP, RRIF, Locked-in RRSP/LIRA, LIF, defined contribution RPP, PRPP/RVER and DPSP
Types of Real Assets
Residences, income properties, other appreciating assets and depreciating assets
For further details, please refer to the technical specifications in our “Terms of Use”.
No, the app does not currently support Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), but they are part of our short-term development plan.
Once you have left “Quick Start”, you can enter your pension plan information according to the nature of the plan as follows:
Defined Benefit Pension Plan
This type of plan provides for the accumulation of pension credits for each year of plan membership. For example, the plan promises to pay an annual pension starting at age 65, equal to 1.5% of your salary for each year of membership. The RREGOP is an example.
You Are an Active Member of a Plan
If you are currently an active member of such a plan with your current employer, you must enter information on this plan in the “Defined Benefit Pension Plan” section of the “Financial Data/Occupations” page.
You Participated in a Plan, but Are Not Yet Receiving a Pension
If you are an inactive member of such a plan from a previous employment, you can enter information on the promised pension in the “Deferred Pensions” section of the “Financial Data/Revenues/Pensions/DB Plans” page.
You Participated in a Plan and Are Currently Receiving a Pension
If you are currently receiving a pension, you can enter the pension information in the “Payable Pensions” section of the “Financial Data/Revenues/Pensions/DB Plans” page.
Don’t hesitate to ask us for help in entering or updating this information, especially if you are currently participating in a plan. The information requested allows us not only to estimate the pension earned, but also to take into account your future years of membership and expected salary growth. It also allows you to test different scenarios without having to calculate or enter the expected pension at a given retirement age yourself.
Defined Contribution Pension Plan (or Capital Accumulation Plan)
This type of plan provides for the accumulation of capital through employee and employer contributions each pay period. For example, you contribute 4% of your salary and the employer contributes the same percentage.
You must first ensure that you add the portfolio asset corresponding to the plan by specifying the type of registration on the “Registered” tab of the “Financial Data/Assets” page.
For example, if you have accumulated $80,000 in a defined contribution registered pension plan administered by Sun Life and registered in Quebec, add a portfolio asset by entering this amount, specifying the type of registration “DC RPP” and the level of registration “Supplemental Pension Plans Act (Quebec)” and giving it a representative name. If it is a group RRSP, indicate the type of registration “RRSP”.
If you are currently a member of such a plan with your current employer, you must enter the information on this plan in the “Capital Accumulation Plans” section of the “Financial Data/Occupations” page. You will then be able to identify the type of plan, provide the underlying portfolio asset and specify the employee and employer contribution percentages.
The application offers several ways to enter your expenses:
Minimum Annual Expense Budget
The simplest way to enter your expenses is to indicate, in your retirement and decumulation objectives on the “Individuals/Edit Objectives” page, a minimum annual retirement expense budget, and select the option of using this budget also before retirement.
The minimum annual expense budget will apply to all your scenarios. It is also the variable on which the solver “How Much Can I Afford to Spend?” is based.
Household Expenses
You can customize your expenses at will on the “Financial Data/Expenses/Household” page. You can enter spending budgets, specific expenses (with or without tax implications) and succession expenses.
It’s important to understand that the expenses entered in this section (and those of your dependants) must exceed the minimum annual expense budget to have any effect on the projection. For example, if you have a minimum budget of $40,000 indexed and spending expenses of $30,000 indexed, the minimum budget will apply.
Expenses of Dependants
Once you’ve entered your dependants in your individual profile, you can enter expenses associated with them on the “Financial Data/Expenses/Dependants” page. You can enter spending budgets and specific expenses (with or without tax implications) per dependant and those associated with a dependant.
Expenses of dependants will automatically end at the ending age of dependency provided in your individual profile.
Occupation Expenses
Once you’ve added an occupation, you’ll be able to enter expenses associated with that occupation.
If these expenses are significant, it is preferable to enter them in the occupation, as they will automatically end when the occupation ends and will be deducted from your business income if you are self-employed.
If you have entered a minimum annual expense budget, occupation expenses will not be considered as part of the minimum budget and will therefore be added to expenses.
For more details on the household, dependant and occupation expenses, please refer to the information button on these pages.
The app automatically calculates several expenses, repayments and deductions, so it’s important to include in your expenses only those that the app cannot be aware.
Here are the amounts you don’t need to count in your expense budget:
Asset-related Expenses
Management fees, capital expenditures (i.e. improvements to a real asset) and amortizations are calculated separately with the information provided for each asset.
For example, management fees for your investments are calculated using the fee percentage shown on the “Financial Data/Expenses/Investments/Portfolios” page. On the other hand, the expenses associated with an income property are calculated using the parameters indicated in the “Financial Data/Expenses/Investments/Real Asset” section.
Debt-related Cash Flows
Repayment of principal and interest on debt (current debts, loans and mortgages) are calculated separately, based on the information provided for each on the “Financial Data/Debts” page and the assumptions used.
However, if you pay your municipal taxes through your mortgage payments, you should only include this amount in your expenses rather than in your mortgage payments.
Income Taxes
The app will estimate your income taxes deducted at source and your taxes payable on an annual basis.
If you are required to pay taxes by instalments or have made withdrawals from registered investments during the year of calculation, the app will calculate your taxes for that year, taking into account the relevant data on the “Financial Data/Income Taxes” page.
Contributions
If you are employed, the app will automatically estimate your employment insurance premiums and provincial parental insurance plan premiums. These expenses will be classified as occupation expenses. QPP contributions and pension plan contributions will also be estimated and classified as investments.
If you are self-employed, the app will calculate the contributions payable as part of your income tax returns. For details of the contributions considered, please consult the “Income Tax Models” page.
You can enter assets or debts belonging in part to a spouse separately or jointly.
Jointly
The simplest way is to enter assets and debts jointly. To do this, select the spouse who will hold the assets and debts and add them to his or her financial data, taking care to enter the overall data for the asset or debt as well as the percentage belonging to the other spouse.
For example, let’s say you own a residence with a total value of $500,000 with your spouse, and your portion is 75%. If you choose to add it to your profile, add the residence, specifying a value of $500,000 and a percentage owned by the spouse of 25%.
With this approach, the app will automatically allocate the value and financial flows associated with the asset or debt between the spouses according to the percentage indicated. On the other hand, the asset or debt will only appear in the profile of the individual you have chosen, specifying the percentage belonging to the spouse.
The advantage of this approach is that you only have to enter the asset or debt once, and you can simplify your sales strategy by only having to enter it once.
Separately
We do not recommend this option, but you can also enter assets and debts separately. You would then enter the data for each spouse, applying the percentage owned by the spouse to the values requested.
For example, in the example in the previous section, you would add a residence of $375,000 and a spousal ownership percentage of 0% to your profile, and add a residence of $125,000 and a spousal ownership percentage of 0% to your spouse’s profile.
Underlying Property
You must first add the mortgaged residence or income property to your assets in order to associate it with the mortgage. You can do this on the “Financial Data/Assets” page.
Tranches
If you have several mortgage tranches, enter each tranche separately on the “Financial Data/Debts” page.
Rate Type
The app was designed to handle fixed-rate mortgages payable monthly, but allows variable-rate mortgages or those payable more frequently to be entered with certain adjustments.
Fixed-rate Mortgage
To enter a fixed-rate mortgage, enter the monthly instalment, interest rate, maturity date and renewal date.
The app will automatically calculate the mortgage balance (its value). If the calculated balance is very different from your balance, check each of the parameters and consult the “Instalments” section below.
Since the app automatically calculates the balance, you don’t need to change this information until the renewal date.
Variable-rate Mortgage
To enter such a mortgage, enter the monthly instalment, current interest rate, maturity date and renewal date.
However, since the interest rate may vary each month, it’s quite possible that the calculated balance will differ from your balance. For example, if the rate has increased, the portion of the instalment applicable to principal repayment has been reduced, which means it will take you longer to repay the mortgage. In this situation, you’ll need to adjust the maturity date (i.e. extend it) until the calculated balance is as close as possible to your balance. Conversely, you’ll need to shorten the maturity date if the rate has fallen.
Given the variable nature of the mortgage, you’ll need to update this information every time you change the calculation date.
We will be enhancing the app to simplify data entry for this type of mortgage.
Home Equity Line of Credit
If you have a home equity line of credit with a fixed-rate portion, you can enter it as a fixed-rate mortgage as described in the previous section.
If you have a variable-rate portion, you can either enter it as a current debt or, if you know the monthly payment you want to make on this portion, you can enter it as a variable-rate mortgage. If you choose the latter option, enter the current interest rate and choose a renewal date to set the period during which the current rate will apply. You can then adjust the maturity date until the calculated balance approximates the balance of this portion of your line of credit on the calculation date.
Instalments
Payment Frequency
If you pay your mortgage more frequently than monthly, you can enter the monthly equivalent of the payment. For example, if you pay $1,000 every two weeks, enter $2,166.66 (i.e. 1,000 × 26 weeks/12 months), or more precisely 2,172.62 (i.e. 1,000 × 365 days/14 days/12 months).
Accelerated Repayments
If your monthly instalments on a fixed-rate mortgage include accelerated principal repayments, please exclude them so as not to distort the calculation of the mortgage balance.
However, you can take these additional payments into account when you update the calculation date. You will be able to change the maturity date of the mortgage that has been shortened due to these repayments.
We will improve the app to explicitly allow for this type of repayment.
Provisions for Municipal Taxes
If your instalments include provisions for municipal taxes, please exclude them to avoid distorting the mortgage balance calculation.
Type of Mortgage
If the mortgage is on an income property, choose the “Commercial” type of mortgage. Interest on commercial mortgages will be tax deductible.
Renewal
Mortgages will automatically renew at the borrowing rate of the selected assumption set. However, you can adjust this rate downwards by specifying an interest rate discount. You can also specify a negative discount for a more conservative projection.
Once you’ve left “Quick Start”, you can enter an income property you currently own, or plan to acquire one.
Property Currently Owned
You can enter such a property in the “Real Assets” section of the “Financial Data/Assets” page, under the “Income Properties” tab.
You can then enter the property’s revenues, capital appreciation and expenses on the “Financial Data/Revenues/Investments/Real Assets” and “Financial Data/Expenses/Investments/Real Assets” pages.
You can also add one or more mortgages on this property to the “Financial Data/Debts” page, and property amortization information to the “Financial Data/Expenses/Amortizations” page, if applicable.
You can plan to improve or sell the property in the “Strategies/Investments/Real Assets” section.
Plan Property Acquisition
You can plan the acquisition, improvement or disposition of a new property in the “Strategies/Investments/Real Assets” section.
You’ll be able to indicate the age at acquisition, finance the acquisition in part with a mortgage, and enter the property’s revenues, capital appreciation and expenses.
Once you’re satisfied with the financial data provided and the basic strategies and assumptions used, you can begin benchmarking by visiting the “Scenarios” or “Optimizations” sections.
To create a new scenario and perform a comparison, first you must create at least one new set of financial data, strategies or assumptions. To do this, ffPro allows you to clone an existing set so that you can then make the changes you want to compare.
The “Optimizations” section offers the ability to automatically vary certain financial (e.g. expense level) or strategy data (e.g. retirement age).
Given the amount of data generated, these analyses focus on the key measures for each projection to be compared.
A scenario tells the projection module which sets to use for the family (assumptions) and for each individual (financial data and strategies).
To create a new scenario in the “Scenarios” section, you must first add or clone an existing set.
If, for example, you want to add a scenario using different assumptions, you must first visit the “Manage Sets” page in the “Assumptions” section, add a new set or clone the existing set and giving it a representative name. Then make the desired changes to the new set, such as entering more conservative expected returns.
You can then add a new scenario to the “Scenarios” section and associate it with this new set. The name you choose for this scenario will identify it when you call up the projection, optimization or report generation functions.
When adding a scenario, make sure that the financial data and strategy sets match your scenario for each individual. If this is not the case, you can edit the individual scenario details by clicking on one of the “Edit Details” links on this page, or by navigating to the “Scenarios/Select and Edit” page.
When you create your family, you need to choose a calculation date (always at the end of the month). The projection will start on this date, so you need to enter financial and strategic data and choose assumptions that correspond to this date, ideally.
If you return to the app after some time, you can change your family’s calculation date on the “Families” page and update your data by visiting each of the following sections:
Individuals
This section doesn’t often require changes, but it might if, for example, your family situation has changed or a new member has been added to the family.
Financial Data
This section requires the most updates. We recommend that you visit every page in this section to ensure that the information is up to date.
If you’ve recently received a notice of assessment or an annual statement of participation of your pension plan or the QPP, this is a good time to update your data.
Strategies
This section doesn’t often require changes a priori, but it could if you were planning to acquire, improve or dispose of a real asset and this plan has been realized since your last update.
Assumptions
In this section, we suggest that you pay attention to two parameters when updating:
Institute of Financial Planning Assumptions
These assumptions are updated annually around the end of April, so we suggest you update the base economic assumption set if new assumptions were published since your last update.
Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) Assumptions
These assumptions are used to establish the actuarial value of pensions of defined benefit pension plans, including government plans. They are updated monthly, so we suggest you adjust the date of the CIA assumptions at each update.
The value associated with the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) pension appearing in your projected assets is an estimate of the present (or actuarial) value of your participation in this plan.
Simply put, the present value is the amount of money the plan must have set aside for you, at that date, to be able to pay you the pension promised at retirement (or the one currently being paid) until your death.
So, even if you’re not yet entitled to a QPP pension, you’re still a member of the plan, you’ve paid contributions and your employer, if applicable, has done the same for you. You have therefore accumulated rights to the plan, and the value of these rights can be estimated.
This is why the app considers your QPP contributions as investments and your employer’s contributions, if any, as revenue.
For the Old Age Security (OAS) pension, it’s the same principle, but you don’t contribute to this plan. Your years of residence in Canada entitle you to receive this pension, subject to certain conditions.
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