It’s a progression that “exceeds expectations.” The Ministry of the Economy announced this Sunday, April 28, that the Retirement Savings Plan (PER) system had crossed the thresholds of more than 100 billion euros in assets and 10 million holders at the end 2023.
“This dynamic concerns both corporate PER, collective (23.4 billion euros of outstanding) and mandatory (19.5 billion euros of outstanding), as well as individual PER (59.9 billion of euros outstanding and more than 3.69 million holders)”, details the press release.
Resulting from the 2019 Pacte law, the PER is a savings tool to prepare for retirement. It is a long-term savings product. It allows holders to save during their working life to obtain, from retirement age, capital or an annuity.
Payments are free but cannot be recovered before retirement, except in exceptional cases such as the purchase of a main residence or well-defined “life accidents” (disability, over-indebtedness, expiration of unemployment insurance rights, etc.). At the end of professional life, two options are possible: a lump sum payment or spread out as a monthly annuity.
At the end of 2022, the PER totaled 80 billion euros in assets and more than 7 million French people had subscribed to one. “The PER crosses two symbolic thresholds, with more than 10 million holders and more than 100 billion euros in assets. This reinforces the dynamics of the PER, which has been a real success since its launch in October 2019,” notes the minister. of Economy Bruno Le Maire in a press release.
An attractive product
“Instead of the numerous products (PERP, Madelin, article 83, PERCO), with heterogeneous and complex operating rules, the new PER is a particularly attractive product which offers numerous advantages,” highlights Bercy.
The Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, quoted in the press release, welcomed “a success for French people who now have a savings product adapted to prepare for their retirement. But it is also a success for our companies which need long-term investments to support them through major transitions.”
According to Bercy, this service constitutes a “concrete action” to combat escheat in retirement savings, while many policyholders are unaware of their status as beneficiaries and therefore do not request the liquidation of their contract. In its report submitted to Parliament in 2018, the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (APCR) estimated that retirement savings contracts not liquidated after the age of 65 represented 5.4 billion euros in outstanding amounts.