Poorly designed or sold inappropriately, some savings products are a dead weight in your heritage. Others have aged badly with time. What can you do ? How to bounce back ?
Each year, everyone often a large household of spring. Why not apply this precept to your heritage ? Recognize that this last result is often more of a stack of products that a construction developed… hence the importance, from time to time, sweeping the panorama of what you have and study it in the light of your needs and your projects.
This will take you may be to realize that the current photograph is not ideal and requires a few touch-ups. It is also an opportunity to take stock of its savings products, some of which have sometimes been subscribed to years before. Have they degraded over time ? Are they still in your situation, which has been able to evolve ? What is their quality in relation to competition in the market ? If this re-evaluation is negative, you will need to take action : sell, close, transfer, to mediate… But the decision will not always be the same depending on your profile and, on the whole, according to the product concerned. Because everyone responds to constraints. Let’s look at the field of the possible for six major families of investment.
1 The funds in formula
The performance of these structured products is based on a market scenario set in advance. At maturity, the capital may be guaranteed in whole or just protected against a drop too massive. The materials currently being marketed are opting almost all to the same format : at the anniversary date, either the fund is reimbursed by anticipation, with a gain if the goal has been reached, or it goes for a year. In addition, the formulas have been greatly simplified. With such constructions, the investor is rarely blocked over a few years. This may, however, occur with older products where you find yourself “glued” to a fund which will be, for sure, unable to achieve its objective.
Your support is essential. Subscribe for $ 1 support Us
What you can’t do. With the funding formula, the dice are thrown from the subscription. Once the product is built, you can not change the rules even if the market changes significantly.
What you can do. Educate yourself first on the development of the product to find out what discount you will incur. Also check if your capital is only protected if it is 100% guaranteed. In the latter case, keep in mind that the warranty is only in the term : it is therefore wiser to gnaw its brake up to this date!!! On the other hand, if your support is greatly devalued compared to its purchase price and that the protection is low, gagez that it will not be enabled. This will be the case for example if your capital is reimbursed up to a loss of 30 % and that the fund has lost more than 50 % of its value. In such a situation, it is better to cash out the loss immediately to start on an investment more efficient.
2 insurance life
Here is an envelope with multiple assets, which enables to save, how to grow their capital, to diversify its investments, to transmit its heritage, in a particularly advantageous tax. The catch : the offer is bloated and constantly renewed. It is sometimes difficult to select the product most suited to your needs. In addition, it is common to see a deterioration of its envelope after a few years.
Consider first the performance of your fund in euros compared to the competition. The average rate 2016 is 1.80 %, but some have served less than 1 %. Analyze the cost : in the past few years, insurers have revised their claims down. Count 3 % maximum fee on instalment, and 0.60 to 0.80% of management fees to a competitive product. Finally, the financial offer and the various options of the contract is another crucial point.
What you can’t do. Unlike other investments, life insurance is not transferable. You will not be able to keep the grandfathered tax from your contract while changing insurer. Although the topic became a regular surface in order to improve competition in the sector, the companies are fiercely opposed, and have always found a listening ear with successive governments.
What you can do. Fortunately, you are not bound hand and foot and for all ! Remember that you have a withdrawal period of thirty days after the subscription of a life insurance policy. Beyond that, you can still waive it if you have not received all the contractual information provided for by law, for eight years for the contracts concluded since 2006, without limit of time for the other, provided it be in good faith. Outside of these cases, what to do if you have a contract obviously poor ? There are several solutions, but some precautions are needed.
first, you can sign up for a new product to host your next payments. Do not be afraid to combine several envelopes, it is even recommended ! “There is no limit on the number of contracts that one can hold and we must take advantage of,” says Olivier Felt, director general of the insurer MIF. This allows you to entrust your savings to a variety of professionals : mutual, insurance company, bank…
Then, to make the best decision, take stock of your old product : bénéficiez-you clauses now extinct, such as a rate of the guaranteed minimum benefit ? It is still the case on some monosupports… to keep safe. But often, it is the taxation that will guide your action. So, do not forget that the premiums paid prior to 1998 on the old contracts benefit from a total exemption from tax. It would be inappropriate to recover these amounts and place them in an envelope, less well treated. Investors aged over 70 years will retain their contracts “ancient” subscribed prior to November 1991 they have made substantial payments before October 1998, they are not taxable at time of death. More generally, “to keep his old contract allows you to benefit from its prior tax because we never know how are going to evolve the rules, writes Vincent Crugeon, director of business development, Primonial group and asset management. Maybe in twenty or thirty years, it will be interesting to make further payments on this envelope.”
Keep an envelope does not necessarily mean that we are not going to tap into that savings. Redemptions progressive can be realized, without being taxed, as soon as the contract has more than eight years. It is sufficient to respect the limits of deduction on gains (€4 600 for a single person and 9 200 euros for a couple) and remit these amounts on a contract without an entry fee.
Finally, the holders of a monosupport of poor quality can play the card “Fourgous”, which is to transfer its assets, within the same company, of a contract in euros to a multi-purpose tray retaining the prior tax. “A condition of having a risk appetite sufficient, opt for a Fourgous may be a solution, especially for customers who have paid premiums before 1998,” says Olivier Felt. Attention, you must place 20 % of your outstanding amount on media to risk, to choose from among the units of account of the contract, excluding Sicav money. A diagram to study, but that would not be suitable for all.
3 The retirement savings
The popular retirement savings plan (Perp) and the contract retraite Madelin, dedicated to the liberals, merchants and artisans, are two savings products that provide an output to a pension at the time of retirement. The payments made on these envelopes are deductible from taxable income, within certain limits,
What you can’t do. Except in the case of unlocking exceptional (disability, death of a spouse…), these envelopes may not be terminated before their term, that is to say, your retirement. For the Perp, the law Fir 2, passed at the end of 2016 just to allow the liquidation of those with small amounts, but under very strict conditions : the envelope does not contain more than 2 000 euros, you have not made payments for four years and your income are low. Still more binding, the Madelin lays down the requirement of annual filing. “It is necessary to pay a minimum amount, whether in contract, otherwise the owner the risk of a recharacterization of the tax benefit”, explains Philippe Landré, general manager of the mutual insurance Amp Mutual. Nothing prevents, however, to combine the two contracts Madelin, and affecting his payments to a single one of them.
What you can do. Good news, these two envelopes are transferable, even if some institutions are dragging their feet to process files. Use a period of four months. The operation is free of charge after ten years, otherwise allow up to 5 % of the amount outstanding. For the Perp, it is nevertheless necessary to be attentive to a clause in the insurance Code (article R 144-27). If a company shows losses on its euro funds at the time of the transfer request, the part of savings invested in euro can be reduced to a rate of 15 %. “Such a situation does not present in no insurer to date, but this could change in the next ten to fifteen years”, stresses Pierre-Emmanuel Sassonia, founder of 163x, a subsidiary of Eres. Side Madelin, a change in professional status may make it advisable to transfer. “We can keep a Madelin in sleep, to resume payments later, if there are plans to reconnect with the status of a liberal, otherwise you may transform it to a Perp,” says Philippe Landré.
4 SCPI
In a market marked by the enthusiasm of the buyers, rare are those who evoke the liquidity of real estate investment trusts (REITS). It must be said that the “stone paper” promises an investment of more flexible than the real estate live. Yet, when the SCPI are underwritten outside of the context of life insurance, it is better to anticipate the issue of their resale because it is a long term investment, advised on twenty years, a period during which many grains of sand can slip in the wheels.
What you can’t do. If you have opted for a REIT tax (Robien, Pinel,…), forget any idea of a resale before the end of the product unless you agree to a very serious discount since the acquirer will not receive the carrot of tax.
What you can do. The device resale is different depending on whether it is a REIT with fixed capital or variable. With the first, less common, the number of units is fixed, therefore, it is necessary to find a buyer to dispose of its securities. “The management company will list the sellers and buyers and organises the market,” says Nicolas Peycru, managing partner of Euodia Finance, wealth management company. The price was the result of the encounter of supply and demand. In other words, if your the product is of poor quality or if the real estate market has deteriorated, you will need to make an effort on the price. It is better to avoid selling in a financial crisis brutal and keep his shares in the meantime for happier days.
For variable-capital SCPIS, the situation is simpler, since it is the manager who buys back your units… subject to having purchasers. “The market is very fluid at the moment, you can sell your units within fifteen days because there is eight times more buyers than sellers,” says Nicolas Peycru. If the market were to occur or if the REIT saw its quality will depreciate, the resale would however be more complicated, and the timelines could be longer. Management companies have the possibility of constituting a background of the refund to prevent this kind of situation. In all cases, after six months of waiting, they have to sell assets to meet their redemption requests. “The main risk in such a context, according to Nicolas Peycru, would be that the manager transforms his product-capital SCPIS fixed, but it is a decision that must be approved by the general assembly.”
5 The FIP and FCPI
Enticed by the tax benefit associated with these products, you have subscribed to a common fund for investment in innovation (FCPI), or a fonds d’investissement de proximité (FIP) ? As the years passed by, you wonder about the relevance of this investment and would prefer to collect your capital to allocate elsewhere ?
What you can’t do. Las, the tax reduction can be paid in cash ! The FIP and FCPI are constructed with a finite life, up to ten years. It is generally well specified during the subscription. What is less known is that the tax benefit is linked to a commitment to detention of at least five years. In case of resale of the support prior to this period (except in the case of unemployment, disability or death), you will have to repay the tax reduction.
What you can do. after five years, nothing prevents to assign its units but still it is necessary to find a taker ! Your buyer can’t qualify to turn the boost State, it may require a major effort on the price of the share. In addition, the market is not organized, so it is up to you to find a buyer even if the distributor or fund manager can help you out. Finally, some of the houses provide for a clause of redemption outstanding in the event of disability or death of the subscriber or his or her spouse. In this case, they acquire their own units.
6 The employee savings plan
They are 8.7 million French people to have benefited from a system of salary savings in 2014, according to the latest figures from the ministry of Labour. But, by ignorance of the devices of a very small portion of them operate actively their company savings plan (PEE), their collective retirement savings plan (Perco) or their contract retirement article 83.
What you can’t do. We are in the presence of the group product, put in place by the company for all or part of its employees. You cannot choose or access to the envelopes or their specificities. In clear : you must do the best with what it offers !
What you can do. You have no obligation to pay on these envelopes, with the exception of some of the articles 83. Their tax advantages, however, must encourage you to look more closely. If your savings pay you seems to be inefficient, it may be that you do not bet on the good support. Within the ISP, the fund proposed by default is monetary. Consider the offer and make an allocation more consistent with your investment horizon.
If you also have the opportunity to save on a Perco, the choice of the envelope may arbitrate, if necessary, in function of the matching contribution from your company. This product, which is dedicated to the retirement, is more binding because it is blocked until this deadline (in contrast to only five years for the PEE) and the terms for early exit are more restrictive. On the other hand, it gives access to a life annuity to the taxation light. Has you approach retirement, it may therefore be advisable to transfer his assets out of a PEE to a Perco to increase the amount of his pension.
Read our complete file
Retirement : complete your future pension
Why saving for retirement is so difficult “It is in the red”: these retirees are forced to work Redemption of quarters retirement: the good new tax
After you have left your company, you can keep your envelopes, but the costs will be at your expense (some tens of euros per year on average). “When it is possible, it is better to put all together at his new employer, especially if it is small amounts”, recommends that Olivier de Fontenay, associate Eres, specialised in employee savings schemes. For an article 83, an additional option is available to you : transfer your savings on a popular retirement savings plan (Perp). But caution ! Because the products to be output in the pension are complex and require well-compare the characteristics of the envelopes. “In an article 83, the mortality table is frozen at the time of the subscription, which is not the case of a Perp”, citing the example of Olivier de Fontenay.