There retirement can be anticipated and even more so when you want to recover your savings. For years, THE PER is often presented as a tool for tax exemption. Voluntary payments can be deducted from taxable income, within the ceilings set by the tax administration. Result: many subscribers focus on this immediate advantage, without really anticipating the liquidation of the plan.
“ Some professionals do not talk about the release at all, because it can be a hindrance in putting the file in place. It’s easier to sell a PER by only saying that we are tax-free », explains François Junior Odzali, wealth management advisor, associate collaborator at Garantia & Associés.
However, according to the tax rules recalled by the administration, the sums resulting from the deducted payments are subject to income tax at the time of exit, while the gains bear their own taxation. Life annuityit is taxed as a retirement pension. In short: what allowed you to save tax during your career can become heavily taxed again in retirement.
Taking out all your PER in capital can be very expensive
The first instinct is often to want to recover all the capital at once: help your children, finance a real estate project or simply secure your retirement. However, this strategy is often the most detrimental. “ You have been tax-free throughout your period of activity, but upon exit, you can be heavily taxed if you recover all the capital at once », Warns the expert.
He takes the example of a liberal nurse who opened her PER to 35 years oldwith 250 euros paid each month for thirty years. With cumulative returns, capital can exceed 200,000 euros at the time of retirement.
The risk appears if this amount is withdrawn in full at once. This output is added to the compulsory retirement pension already paid by the profession’s pension fund. Taxable income can then rise suddenly and push the retiree into a upper bracket of income tax.
In 2026, the scale provides in particular for taxation at 11% between 11,498 euros And 29,315 eurosthen to 30% until 83,823 eurosbefore moving on to 41% beyond. A poorly calibrated exit can therefore erase part of the initial tax advantage. “ You must not forget that you have your compulsory pension fund which already pays you your pension. The PER is a retirement supplement », recalls François Junior Odzali.
For liberal professions and the self-employed, vigilance is often even greater. The PER has often served as an important tax exemption lever during working life, particularly for highly taxed doctors, nurses, lawyers or consultants. In retirement, recovering too much capital at once can cancel part of this tax advantage. Even if each pension fund has its specificities, the logic remains the same: the PER supplements the main pension, and not replaces it.
Capital, annuity or gradual exit: the right choice
The PER can also be released before retirement in certain specific cases: purchase of main residence, disability, death of spouse, over-indebtedness, end of unemployment rights or compulsory liquidation for a self-employed personrecalls Service-Public.fr.
Among younger workers, some also use it as a real estate preparation tool. “ For those under 40, we sometimes have a PER “2.0” logic: reduce taxes today and use this savings later to purchase the main residence “, he explains.
As you approach retirement, it’s best to think ahead. If a major liquidity need is anticipated, some stop payments to 55 or 60 years oldarbitrate a part towards life insurance or favor a mixed exit: a capital part for immediate needs, then a life annuity to smooth out taxation. “ The right advisor intervenes precisely at the exit: recover a capital portion if necessary, then keep a life annuity to avoid excessive taxation », Underlines the expert.
In other words, the mistake is not to open a PER, but to believe that everything depends on the entry. When it comes to retirement, real optimization often begins at the time of exit.
