If you want to give money as a Christmas gift, it’s best to think ahead.
The agitation is starting to reach the shops in town centers and shopping centers. Christmas is fast approaching and the race to find the presents to put under the tree has begun. If the lists addressed to the old gentleman in red who walks the Globe with his reindeer are often well provided, another gift, never requested, often arrives on the morning of December 25 (or the evening of the 24, depending).
After a certain age, parents and grandparents do not hesitate to give money for Christmas. Generally, by check or cash, so that an envelope is placed on one of the branches of the family conifer. Others do not hesitate to make a transfer directly. More impersonal, certainly, but just as effective, especially for distant families.
In any case, it is better to plan ahead to fund your current account. With the end-of-year holidays, bank transactions are more numerous than usual and, sometimes, certain deadlines for releasing money can lengthen. It is therefore preferable to be forward-looking, even if this does not concern all savings.
Unblocking money placed in a traditional booklet such as the booklet A, the LDDS, the LEP or even the CEL is quick. Usually, within one or two days, the desired amount arrives in the current account. On the other hand, if you want to use money from life insurance, it is recommended to take a little more margin.
Allow about a week between your request for withdrawal of funds (called “partial redemption”) and the payment into your current account, especially if the two are not in the same bank. Furthermore, the delay can be even longer if you want to take out more than €10,000 at once, due to checks carried out against tax fraud.
To complete the procedures calmly and without the pressure of the last day, you can request an outflow of funds from your life insurance on December 13 or 14: this offers enough margin. If you want to use the money from a classic savings account, you can make a transfer on December 18 or 19: the amount will be available before Christmas.
Furthermore, it should be noted that it is not possible to have a transfer arrive exactly on December 25. The system which allows bank exchanges does not work on that day, nor on December 26. The gift given by dad, mom, grandpa or grandma can therefore only arrive on Wednesday 27th. Unless it arrives before Santa Claus, on Saturday 23rd.