With 150.4 billion euros in assets and 12.9 million holders at the end of 2025, according to figures published by Bercy on May 17, 2026, the Retirement Savings Plan has become the long-term savings product which is growing the most in France, up 20% in one year. It must be said that he has arguments: each euro paid can be deducted from taxable incomewithin the limit of 8 times 10% of the PASS, or 37,680 euros in 2026 for employees. The equation seems simple: you pay, you deduct, you save. And the higher the tax bracket, the greater the immediate gain.
But be careful, you must not let yourself be misled either: “Yes, there is an imposition that will take place at some point. We can say that it is a deferred tax »explains Benjamin Pedrini, co-founder and general manager of Epsor, a company specializing in employee savings and retirement. The PER therefore does not work like the tax reduction for working an employee at home or that for donations to associations. It is for this reason that it escapes the overall cap on tax loopholes, set at 10,000 euros per year. There is no gift: what Bercy leaves you today will be resumed tomorrowat the time of release. But there are still advantages to be gained from the PER.
Why the PER is still interesting
The mechanism may be a deferral, but it can generate a very real tax gain, on one condition: that your marginal tax bracket (TMI) is high. “The idea is that PER users will pay during their working life with a TMI higher than at retirement », underlines Benjamin Pedrini. “The whole point of the PER is to encourage working people to build up savings in anticipation of their retirement with this tax benefit at the time of payments, which will be able to grow “. And the longer we invest, the more this money will grow.
A concrete example: if during your working life, you are at 41% TMI, each 10,000 euros paid into the PER allows you to save 4,100 euros in tax that year. If, upon retirement, your TMI falls to 30%, you will only pay 3,000 euros in tax on these same 10,000 euros upon exit. THE net gain is 1,100 euros per 10,000 euros saved.
In addition to that, there is also a mechanism that can be compared to leverage. “ Well invested, these 4,100 euros will be much more important when you retire”underlines the expert. For example, if the money grew at 20%, you will still have earned 2,000 euros on these 10,000 (the taxation of which will depend on the exit method) instead of 1,180 on 5,900 euros if you had paid taxes. “ We are making a sum that should have been given to taxes grow »summarizes the expert.
The PER, not for everyone
This reasoning holds when we pay income tax. “As soon as we are in the 30% bracket, it starts to make sense”summarizes Benjamin Pedrini. Below, the advantage is reduced mechanically: someone with an 11% TMI saves 110 euros per 1,000 euros paid, and if their TMI remains the same in retirement, the gain is almost zero – for savings that were still blocked. In this case, switching to life insurance, which is not blocked and generally offers the same funds, or a PEA for dynamic investments, is perhaps preferable.
Tax gain should never be the only motivation for an investment. The PER must above all be thought of as a retirement preparation toolwith a long horizon of 15, 20 or 30 years, and a blocking of funds until the liquidation of rights (except in exceptional cases such as the purchase of the main residence or a life accident).
