Where is Lifetime Planner?

zim90

I can't figure out where Lifetime Planner is hiding. I found a screenshot in a community discussion that showed me where it should be but I don't have it. Under Planning, my options are Budgets, Debt Reduction, Tax Center, and Savings Goals but not Lifetime Planner. I'm using Classic Deluxe Canada v. R62.18 on a Win11 desktop.

[Deleted User]

@zim90 - the Lifetime Planner is only available in the U.S. version of Quicken for Windows.

Quicken Kristina

Hello @zim90,

Thank you for coming to the Community with this question. Unfortunately, according to our article on using the Lifetime Planner, the feature is not available in the Canadian version of Quicken Classic: https://info.quicken.com/win/tell-me-about-filling-out-the-lifetime-planner-tip#TipsforusingtheLifetimePlanner-NotAvailableinCanada

If this is a feature you'd like to see added to the Canadian version of Quicken Classic, I recommend creating an Idea post to request the feature. For information on creating an Idea post, please review the post linked below:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7849425/creating-and-voting-for-ideas-in-the-community

Thank you!

zim90

Okay, I've submitted the suggestion but I'm very unimpressed. Does Quicken think that Canadians aren't interested in planning their lives? Also, why [Removed - Language] does Help talk about it? I don't want to see instructions on how to use functions that aren't included with the version of the software that I'm using. If nothing else, there should be a note in Help that says that it's only for the US version.

[Deleted User]

@zim90 the primary reason the Lifetime Planner isn’t offered in the Canadian version of Quicken is that it was designed specifically for U.S. financial planning frameworks. In the U.S. market, retirement planning often revolves around tools that incorporate elements like Social Security benefits, 401(k) plans, and tax scenarios unique to American regulations. The Lifetime Planner leverages these structures to help users visualize long-term financial outcomes. Because Canadian retirement planning relies on systems such as the Canada Pension Plan, RRSPs, and TFSAs—with different tax implications and retirement savings models—simply porting over the U.S. feature wouldn’t provide the same relevance or accuracy to Canadian users.

That said, many of the planning capabilities—like budgeting, investment tracking, and goal setting—are still present in the Canadian version, just not bundled under the “Lifetime Planner” name.

Chris_QPW

Well, the truth is that Quicken was written for the US market with an "after thought" for the Canadian market.

With the exception of the best multiple currency support of any of the versions of Quicken, Quicken Canada is the US product with lipstick.

And the multiple currency support for Quicken Windows Canada was done at a time when Intuit owned Quicken and had an actual developer group (I believe in Canada) working on it. That group was long ago closed, long before Quicken was sold to Quicken Inc.

zim90

I hadn't expected Lifetime Planner to take tax issues into account so, sure, there are significant differences between the two countries. At the same time, I have to wonder how Quicken US manages the differences between 50 states (and however many territories). Incorporating tax implications is a little more ambitious than I was expecting. For example, Canadians don't pay income tax on profits from the sale of a primary residence but we do on secondary residences. I was expecting that I would enter the proceeds from a projected future sale by deducting an estimate of the tax payable. I didn't expect the planner to do it for me. Tax rates are always changing so any calculated tax impact may not be any more accurate than my own guesstimate. Anyway, I'll see what I can do with the existing functions.