The Retirement Savings Plan is an investment that allows you to build up long-term savings to prepare for the end of your professional life. It has the advantage of offering a entry tax deduction and, at the time of liquidation (retired or after), savers must make a choice. Take out a life annuity, capital, or (less known solution), combine the two. A freedom that the old PERP or Madelin contracts did not offer, which imposed the annuity. Each of these possibilities has its advantage.
The capital outflow offers a greater flexibilitybut the taxation is heavier, and you can end up depleting the capital. Leaving an annuity has the advantage of financial securitybut it is irrevocable once chosen and you can lose out in the event of premature death. According to 2026 market figures, around 70% of PER holders today choose a capital exit, compared to 20% in annuity and 10% in mixed mode, according to Odin Capital.
Life annuity, income security but loss of capital
“The choice between taking out an annuity or capital will depend on the type of person”explains Benjamin Pedrini, co-founder and general manager of Epsor, specialist in employee savings. “The advantage of an annuity is that it allows you to generate recurring, regular and stable income. If you really need additional stable remuneration, this is rather suitable. » The principle is simple: the insurer converts the accumulated capital in monthly payments for lifebased on mortality tables. The older the annuitant is at the time of conversion, the higher the annuity, since the insurer will pay for a shorter period of time.
“There is no universal formula, it depends on the insurers, the accumulated savings, your age… Insurers use mortality tables to consider the duration of the annuity”specifies our expert. To give an order of magnitude, he estimates that “to obtain 1,000 euros of additional income per month from a life annuity, you must have accumulated around 300,000 euros of capital. » A figure valid for leaving at around 65 years old. The other side of the coin is known, but perhaps underestimated.
“The big disadvantage is that we entrust all the capital we have accumulated to an insurer. If you die within a few years of taking out the annuity, you lose all your capital”explains Benjamin Pedrini. Capital is definitively alienated: the insurer becomes the owner of the fundsand the heirs receive nothing. To avoid this scenario, the reversion option allows the surviving spouse to continue to receive the pension after death, up to 50, 60 or 100% depending on the rate chosen. But this protection comes at a cost. “The amount of the annuity is lower, because it represents a cost for the insurer, and the amount of the reversion is not the entire annuity »recalls Benjamin Pedrini.
Capital exit, freedom to be handled with caution
The other option is to keep control of your assets. “The fact of keeping capital, and having capital that you can draw on according to your needs, may be more relevant. You remain the owner of your capital and you can use it as you wish.summarizes Benjamin Pedrini. There is total freedom: withdraw in one go, split over several years, or let the balance grow. In the event of death, what remains on the PER is transmitted to the beneficiaries designated in the clause, with a reduction of 152,500 euros per beneficiary tax-free if the holder dies before age 70.
Taxation, however, can bite in the event of a mass withdrawal. If the payments were deducted upon entry, they are reinstated in the progressive income tax scale in the year of withdrawal, without benefiting from the 10% reduction granted to pensions. Earnings are subject to the flat tax of 31.4% in 2026 (18.6% social security contributions since January 1). For a capital of 200,000 euros withdrawn at once, the risk is to fall into the 41% bracket and pay much more tax than by smoothing the withdrawals over several years.
Benjamin Pedrini thus evokes another mode of exit: capital, but regular. “Some players like Epsor offer to have regular payments from your PER, from your accumulated capital. The rest invested, in a more secure way.” He thus mentions the possibility of setting up an automatic monthly withdrawal, for example of 200 euros per month. During this time, the capital not withdrawn continues to grow, and the retiree retains ownership of his funds. But be careful, depending on the weather, the capital may eventually run out.
