Bertrand, reader of Capitaladdresses the following question: “Hello, my PEL is June 30, 2012. What do you advise me to do?” Will he be closed by my bank? ” Hello Bertrand, and thank you for your question, which is very timely. Indeed, from 2026, it is true that housing savings plans will be automatically closed by the banks. For what ? Because since 2011, PEL conditions have changed: all PELs open from March 1, 2011 are automatically closed after 15 years. Concretely, this means that your plan opened on June 30, 2012 will be closed automatically on June 30, 2027. However, until this date, your PEL will continue to generate interest at the rate at which you had subscribed.
What will happen on June 30, 2027? Your bank will automatically close your PEL and the savings you have will be transferred to a conventional bank book. This type of booklet also produces interest, but at a rate set freely by the bank. Impossible to know how much it will bring you. However, these booklets often offer low remuneration: in September, the average rate observed by the Banque de France was only 0.8%. In other words, if you let your PEL transform into an ordinary booklet, you may see your performance fall suddenly.
What to do with your PEL by 2027?
Your PEL opened in 2012 probably reports around 2.5% or 2%, depending on the exact opening date, which remains a very attractive rate compared to current secure investments: the rate of booklet A for example dropped to 1.7% on August 1. As long as you keep this plan, you therefore benefit from a guaranteed return and which could be greater than that of regulated booklets if they continue to drop these next two years.
Nevertheless, it is crucial to anticipate: as 2027 approaches, it will be more judicious to decide yourself to redirect your capital or not to a more remunerative product-for example life insurance in euros funds, or a term account-rather than undergoing automatic transformation into a weakly remunerated banking booklet.
In summary Bertrand, your PEL of June 30, 2012 will be well closed automatically by your bank on June 30, 2027. Until then, you can continue to enjoy its advantageous performance. But be careful to anticipate its closure to place your funds in better conditions, in order to avoid the drop in remuneration linked to automatic transfer to a conventional booklet.
