Overview

A Life Income Fund (LIF) is a retirement income account that provides regular payments during your retirement. LIFs are often converted from Locked-in Retirement Accounts (LIRAs), allowing you to access your retirement savings. You can withdraw a minimum and maximum amount annually, which counts as taxable income. 

Please keep in mind that jurisdictions may have differing rules to be aware of, such as withdrawal amounts and the age of retirement.

Eligibility

You should consider opening a LIF only when you're retired and ready to draw from your savings, as you must withdraw a minimum amount annually. The Canadian government requires you to rollover your LIRA to a LIF by the end of the year you turn 71. Earlier rollovers are optional.

You must transfer in an existing LIF to Wealthsimple or rollover an existing Wealthsimple LIRA to open a LIF.

How to open a LIF

Follow these steps to open an LIF:

1. Log in to the Wealthsimple mobile app
2. Under Accounts, scroll down and select + Add an account
3. Select Open a new account
4. Choose the LIF account type
5. Select your Jurisdiction
6. Follow the prompts to finish setting up your LIF

What you can invest in with a LIF

You can invest a LIF in a variety of Wealthsimple products:

• Stocks, options, and ETFs
• Managed portfolios

Rollover a LIRA into a LIF

You can roll over a LIRA account into an LIF account once you reach retirement age, which varies by jurisdiction. Before you can rollover a LIRA into a LIF, you must open a LIF on your Wealthsimple profile. 

After you open a LIF, follow these steps to initiate the rollover:

1. Log in to your Wealthsimple mobile app
2. From the Home tab, select your LIRA account
3. Select the Convert existing LIRA option at the bottom of your screen
4. Follow the prompts and select the LIRA to rollover
5. Confirm the change and submit your request

Transferring a LIF to Wealthsimple

You’ll need to withdraw the minimum withdrawal amount before moving your account to Wealthsimple. You can either withdraw the funds:

• before you initiate your transfer
• after you submit your transfer request

In both cases, you’ll need to tell your institution that you want to transfer your account, and they’ll help you with the withdrawal.

Deposits and withdrawals

Review the deposit and withdrawal information for LIFs:

• Deposits: Unlike other investment accounts, you can't deposit funds directly into a LIF. Instead, fund a LIF by transferring an existing LIF to Wealthsimple or rolling over an existing Wealthsimple LIRA.
• Withdrawals: There's a minimum and maximum withdrawal amount annually for funded LIFs (some exceptions apply in Quebec). Wealthsimple helps you stay within these limits, which are added to your taxable income for the following year. You don't need to withdraw in the first year if the LIF is funded from a LIRA rollover. Learn more about withdrawing from a LIF.

Frequently asked questions