PEE, PER, Perco: difficult to navigate among the jungle of acronyms and acronyms of employee savings plans.
Despite this apparent complexity, these devices show remarkable dynamism.
At the end of June, 162.4 billion euros were placed there, according to the latest half-yearly figures published on October 19 by the French Association of Financial Management (AFG).
That is to say an increase in outstandings of 18.8% over one year, and of 73% in the space of ten years.
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However, they remain relatively unknown to the French.
One in two (51%) is unaware that he can place his personal savings on a payroll savings plan, according to a survey published at the end of August by the company Epsens, a specialist in this type of investments.
Who can benefit ?
What are the differences between the existing supports?
Are they financially attractive?
Le Figaro
answers all your questions.
How does an employee savings plan work?
Employee savings plans are collective savings schemes set up within certain companies.
"
It is a receptacle for building up capital with the help of your company
", summarizes Dominique Dorchies, Deputy CEO of Natixis Interépargne, a subsidiary of the BPCE group and number two in the sector in France (31 billion d euros of assets under management, for 3 million savers in more than 67,000 client companies).
What are the different types of employee savings plan?
Employee savings plans can be classified into two categories: company savings plans (PEE) and retirement savings plans (PER). Adopted in May 2019, the Pacte law wanted to bring more clarity to the latter. It thus created the collective enterprise PER, sometimes called Percol, which will gradually replace the collective retirement savings plan (Perco). Apart from Percol, two other PERs have also emerged: the compulsory corporate PER and the individual PER.
If companies can no longer subscribe to a Perco since October 1, 2020, they can keep it if they had set up such a plan before that date, without any obligation to transform it into Percol.
"
It is a product which will quietly but certainly disappear in the years to come, and which will be replaced by Percol
", predicts in spite of everything Xavier Collot, director of employee savings and retirement at Amundi, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole and leader French market (76 billion assets under management, for 4 million savers and 115,000 corporate clients).
Who can benefit from an employee savings plan?
If a company offers an employee savings plan, all employees can benefit from it, including apprentices or seasonal workers.
A seniority condition may however be required by the company, but the minimum period requested may not exceed three months.
However, among the PERs, a company has the option of setting up a mandatory company PER, which can be reserved for certain categories of employees, generally senior executives and managers.
Read also Employee savings remain very locked
What sums can be paid into a employee savings plan?
Employees can fund their PEE, their PER or their Perco with different sums.
When their participation and / or incentive bonus is distributed to them, they can choose to pay it into an employee savings plan, or to cash it immediately.
Employee savings plans can also be funded through voluntary payments from employees (capped in the case of PEE and Perco) and through days of leave placed in a time savings account (CET).
Note that companies can themselves pay money into these plans: this is called “
contributions
”, which are limited.
They cannot exceed three times the funds paid by the employee, also with a ceiling in terms of amount - lower for the PEE than for the PER and the Perco.
In the case of the PEE, the company can also make payments without the need for employees to have paid on their side.
But these must be intended exclusively for the purchase of shares of the company (with a discount offered, which can range from 30 to 40%).
When can we release the sums invested in an employee savings plan?
The rules for blocking and unlocking savings accumulated in an employee savings plan depend on the system.
In the case of a PEE, the sums are blocked for five years.
But there are several possibilities for early release, the most common of which are marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, leaving the business, disability, death or even the acquisition of the main residence.
For retirement savings plans (PER and Perco), funds are blocked until retirement, and there are fewer conditions for early exit: death, disability, over-indebtedness, acquisition of the main residence and expiration of rights unemployment insurance.
It is necessary to add to this list, for Percol, the cessation of self-employed activity following a judgment of judicial liquidation, and for Perco, the restoration of the main residence following a natural disaster.
Are employee savings plans taxable?
Employee savings plans are all subject to favorable taxation, which differs according to each device. For the PEE, capital gains on the amounts saved are exempt from income tax when the plan leaves the plan. The employee must therefore pay only social security contributions, which amount to 17.2% (against 30% normally for capital income). Ditto for the Perco in case of issue in the form of capital.
Under the PER, voluntary payments over the course of a year are deductible from taxable income - which is not the case in a PEE.
This deduction must not exceed a certain limit.
On exit, if they have been deducted from the declaration, the part of the savings corresponding to these voluntary payments will be subject to income tax.
Conversely, if they have not been deducted, only capital gains will be taxed.
How to choose between the different plans?
Imagine that you have a small nest egg available, that you want to invest in a employee savings plan. It can be difficult to know if it makes more sense to put this money in a PEE or a PER / Perco. "
The choice must be made according to its objective and its tax situation
", emphasizes Dominique Dorchies. "
If you have a short-term project, for example a move or a child, the PEE is more flexible,
" she said. “
On the contrary, if you do not have a large short-term project and you want to reduce your taxes, it is interesting to pay into a PER.
"
It is also necessary to study the advantages offered by the employer "
to encourage employees to go into the PEE and / or Percol envelope
", adds Xavier Collot, particularly in terms of matching or employee shareholding, the latter being possible only in PEEs.
Read alsoHow to optimize your employee savings?
Can we transfer amounts from one plan to another?
It is possible to transfer sums from the PEE to a Perco, but not from the PEE to his Percol.
In the other direction, the Perco sums, which will disappear in the future, are transferable to the new Percol.
The transfer from Percol to the PEE is impossible.
The new PER, created by the Pacte law, are "
a fungible envelope
", also notes Xavier Collot.
Concretely, this means that the savings accumulated on Percol, for example when leaving the company, can be transferred to all other PER, for example to an individual PER if the new employer does not have Percol.
To promote the new PER, the Pacte law makes it possible, until January 1, 2023, to transfer sums from a life insurance contract (over 8 years) to a PER, with a tax advantage. .
How much can employee savings plans earn?
When saving on a PEE or a Perco / PER obviously the question of returns arises.
"
They are correlated with the funds in which you invest, depending on the associated risk
", underlines Xavier Collot.
Read alsoIs employee savings such a good investment?
According to professionals in the sector, this is “
competitive
”
savings
, because they are negotiated by companies, after discussions with the social partners.
“
Employee savings is the best investment for employees
”, even judges Dominique Dorchies.
But in fact, it is not always interesting to invest in an employee savings plan, nuance Philippe Crevel, director of the Cercle de l'Épargne.
"
Large companies often have more interesting products than smaller ones,
" explains the economist in particular, who cites among the biases, in addition to the size of the company, its sector of activity and the manager, "
which can be more or less generous
”.
But "
it is always better to save on a PEE than a livret A or an LDDS (sustainable development and solidarity booklet)
", he says, because of the extremely low interest rates of these two booklets (0, 5%).