Reader Question: A friend has told me about a PER savings account he has opened with his bank. I am an early-retiree in France, is it is possible for me to open one and worth doing?
A PER (plan d’épargne retraite) is a kind of long-term savings product offered in France that can either be based on a compte titres (shares savings account) or a form of assurance vie (life assurance).
Since 2020, it has been available at banks and insurers, replacing the ‘PERP’ and ‘Madelin’ accounts which were formerly the main specific ways to save towards retirement.
Despite its name, it can indeed be opened by people who are already retired, and there are no fixed rules on who can open a PER (aside from under 18s only being able to subscribe to one via parental authority).
Having said this, institutions are legally able to put their own limits on who can open these accounts/plans with them, including maximum age limits (often around 70), so do check this with any provider you are considering.
There are also no limits on nationality or residence for opening an account, meaning those who have moved to France can open an account, even if planning to move back to their country of origin.
Note however that if you may move abroad, you should check how your PER will be treated for tax, including any dispositions in a double tax treaty with the country you will be moving to. In some cases, living abroad could see it taxed more heavily.
Is it worth it?
In short, an individual PER functions by holders making voluntary payments into it.
Once a holder reaches the usual French retirement age (between 62 and 64), they have the option to cash-in on the amounts held in the PER.
However, they do not need to do so as soon as they hit retirement, and can leave the sum within untouched for a longer period.
Once you ‘unblock’ the account, sums can be paid out as an annuity, acting as a top-up to any other pension received, or as a lump-sum payment (there is also the option to receive a partial lump sum and smaller annuity).
One of the main advantages of a PER is that amounts paid into the account in the course of a given year can be tax deductible, up to a limit of 10% of your overall professional income (revenus d’activité) up to a maximum of €35,194, or to a standard fixed amount (whatever is higher for the account holder).
For retirees and non-workers, only the fixed amount is applicable. Changing annually, for 2025 this is €4,637 (this can be increased by any ‘non-used’ amounts for the previous three years).
Tax treatment of withdrawals
French taxation of withdrawals from a PER depends on whether or not you took up the option to deduct the sums paid in from taxable income.
If you did, and you take the PER as an ongoing income, this income is taxed as a retirement pension.
If you take it as capital then the part of the capital sum corresponding to your payments into the account is added to other taxable income for the year in which you take it out and it is taxed under the ordinary income tax bands.
The part corresponding to interest is taxed under the French ‘flat tax’ (12.8% income tax + 17.2% social charges or 7.5% if you have an S1 form for another country to pay your French health costs).
Note that the 12.8% income tax is taken off (in advance, as a provisional instalment) at source when the interest is paid out, though you can ask your provider not to do this if your annual net taxable income figure is below a certain level (at present, €25,000 in 2023).
If you did not make tax deductions and take an annuity, the income is taxed under special rules where only a fraction of the income is subject to income tax, variable on your age when you took out the product (eg. 30% if you were aged 69 or more). Social charges are also due.
If you take it as capital, the part corresponding to your sums paid in that you did not deduct is exempt from income tax. The part corresponding to interest is taxed as described above.
Inheritance benefits
Many people choose to open a PER as a form of life insurance, to benefit named beneficiaries after they die.
If you die before ‘unblocking’ the account, the saved amounts will be paid out to your heirs and/or named beneficiaries as an income or capital.
In the case of a PER set up as a compte titres, the money in the account will simply be added to your estate.
However, PER accounts set up as an assurance vie have added tax-free benefits for inheritors. If the main account holder dies before age 70, funds are tax-free up to €152,500 per inheritor, then each person’s part above this is taxed at 20%.
If the holder dies after age 70, the sums paid out are subject to inheritance tax after an overall allowance of €30,500.
In addition, a spouse or civil partner cited as the beneficiary in a PER can not only claim the entire amount in the account without paying inheritance tax (droits de succession), but is also free from any gains tax on the income (impôts sur les gains).
