Always think about it, never talk about it… During his visit to the Senate, Olivier Dussopt was careful not to respond to LR parliamentarians on the advisability of introducing a dose of capitalization into our pension system. “No one can reasonably say that there is no reflection to be had on the subject”, all the same conceded the Minister of Labor. According to him, the generalization to all assets of a supplementary pension, in addition to that resulting from the general pay-as-you-go system, which would have as its base the long-term valuation of individual capital invested in the stock market. , would be crazy “complex”. It is therefore urgent not to open the debate, but to think about it, when so many of our neighbors have long since taken action.
However, this “complexity” does not seem insurmountable: 4.5 million civil servants, magistrates or soldiers contribute, through their bonuses, to the additional public service pension plan (RAFP). Created in 2003, co-managed with the unions, CGT included, this pension fund which does not say its name manages 38 billion euros in assets, nearly half of which are invested in the icy waters of the equity markets, without any voices on the left cry out for selfish speculation…
As for the very real “complexity” that existed in terms of retirement savings for private sector employees, it was clearly resolved with the creation, by the Pacte law of 2019, of the Retirement Savings Plan (PER). This product, easy to subscribe to and a cousin of life insurance, has replaced the many existing plans (Perp, Perco, Madelin contract, etc.) by offering an appetizing tax carrot to taxpayers in the highest marginal tax rates. More than 6 million French people now have one, for a total amount of 70 billion euros.
The capitalization may well give outbreaks of hives to the Nupes and modesty of violet to the majority, it has indeed settled in the heritage landscape of the French. Those who benefit from it today are entitled to it by virtue of their status as public officials. Or interest, because of their tax slip. The millions of others – employees, workers, teachers without bonuses (therefore without RAFP)… – are asked to manage to anticipate, alone, the future weakness of their basic pension. A de facto inequality that will one day have to be corrected from above, by opening up devices of this order to everyone.