You have to anticipate if you want to give money for the end of year celebrations.
It’s an increasingly common gift. Particularly for older children, when the list sent to Santa Claus is dwindling, there are not many ideas and we don’t want to take the risk of making a mistake. Giving money on December 24 or 25 has become a habit for parents and grandparents. It’s also an opportunity to pass on a little to your descendants without going through the tax box.
However, it is better to plan ahead to fund your current account, because, generally, it is from savings accounts that donors draw these funds. With the end-of-year holidays, bank transactions are more numerous and, sometimes, certain deadlines for releasing money placed in a blocked account can lengthen. Many French people are therefore surprised, every year, by these delays. It is therefore better to plan ahead, 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 the day or the next day, the desired amount arrives in the current account. This is the advantage of these devices which offer immediate availability of funds. 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 carry out the procedures quietly and without pressure at the last moment, 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 traditional savings account, you can make a transfer on December 18 or 19: the amount will then be available before Christmas and you will then be able to either withdraw cash at the counter or make a check or transfer without fear of being overdrawn.