PER: good news, the transfer to a better retirement savings plan becomes free

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Are you disappointed with the features of your retirement savings plan? If it is more than five years old, take the opportunity to transfer it for free. Explanations from Gilles Belloir, general manager of Placement-direct.fr.

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Created by the Pacte law (Action plan for the growth and transformation of businesses), the retirement savings plan (PER) has been very successful since its launch on October 1, 2019. It must be said that the system is not lacking of advantages for savers who wish to prepare for their retirement. However, not all PERs distributed on the market are equal. THE fee differencesperformance, investment universe or even management flexibility are sometimes very important.

Rest assured, if you have joined a PER that does not satisfy you, all is not lost. Because unlike life insurance, retirement savings schemes are freely transferable from one establishment to another. The only point of attention: the potential transfer fees that apply.

Free transfer fees after 5 years

In this area, the Pacte law has brought about very positive changes in the regulations. Whereas on old retirement savings schemes (Perp, Madelin, Préfon, etc.), it was necessary to wait for the tenth anniversary of the contract for the transfer fees jump, a period of five years is now sufficient when transferring from PER to PER. And before this deadline, their amount is capped at 1%.

If you are disappointed with the characteristics of your contract, and it has just celebrated its fifth candle, take the opportunity to request a transfer, free of charge, to a much more competitive contract.

What to do with your old Perp, Madelin or Préfon?

If you are the holder of an old retirement savings plan (they are no longer marketed since October 1, 2020) and your wish is to transfer it to a PER, the question is more subtle. If your contract is more than 10 years old, there is no obstacle to making your transfer request, the costs being necessarily zero. On the other hand, if your contract has not passed this milestone, the left establishment may charge significant transfer fees, capped at 5%.

For many savers, paying penalties of several hundred or even thousands of euros is out of the question. Two options are then available to you: be patient and wait until your contract is more than 10 years old, or make a double transfer in order to reduce the cost of the operation.

This second solution consists of asking your current manager to transform your old retirement savings plan into a PER. Most establishments offer this operation, which is generally carried out free of charge. Then secondly, you will request the transfer of this PER to the PER of your choice while only incurring transfer costs of up to 1% maximum. A cost which becomes more reasonable and above all which can be amortized by the technical and financial characteristics of your new contract.