Caution or risk taking?
In a still very unstable economic context, the way to invest your money should, in the coming months, be a balancing act.
After a record year 2020 for savings, reaching around 20% of the personal budget, the unpredictability of 2021 should still encourage the French to put aside nuts.
Two choices are available: security without profitability, or potentially profitable risk.
Overview of your possibilities.
Safe investments… but little return.
The “safe haven investments”, livret A and LDDS, exempt from taxes and compulsory deductions, should still be popular in 2021 after having drained 35 billion additional euros last year.
The livret A, the preferred medium of the French - 8 out of 10 have one - remains unprofitable with an extremely low interest rate, at 0.5%.
“Place up to three months' wages, as a precaution.
If you have no doubts about your job and enough visibility, it does not seem relevant to reach the ceiling of 22,950 euros, ”advises Philippe Crevel, CEO of the Cercle de l'épargne.
As for the Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet (LDDS), with its ceiling of 12,000 euros, it is barely more profitable, with an interest rate of 0.75%.
“These are not investments for the future, but they are liquid, you can withdraw the money whenever you want.
It can be reassuring in this time of crisis.
You have to use them to have a mattress, without abusing them, ”notes Rodolphe Brunon, wealth management advisor and founder of Links Capital Management.
Avoid the PEL.
If you do not have an “old PEL”, opened before 2011, avoid taking out one.
The housing savings plan, with a yield of only 1% per year, is taxed at 30% (17.2% social security contributions, 12.8% income tax), and blocked for at least four years.
"It is not the best investment ... The old ones, them, have only the obligatory deductions and interest rates around 3.5 / 4%, specifies Philippe Crevel.
There, it is in your interest to invest money on it if the ceiling of 62,000 euros is not reached.
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And go for the PER.
The new Retirement Savings Plan, launched in October 2019, remains an effective way of preparing for after working life.
Like life insurance, it combines security, with euro funds, and risks, with units of account.
With a PER, on the other hand, you cannot choose to recover your investment - in the form of an annuity or capital - until you retire.
“But you have an interesting tax core,” says Rodolphe Brunon.
When you subscribe, you have the possibility of deducting your payments from your taxable income, within the limit of 10% of it.
In this case at the exit, the gains will be taxed at the single flat-rate deduction (PFU) of 30%, and the capital collected subject to income tax.
If you waive the deductibility at entry, only the PFU will apply when you retire.
Life insurance, yes, but with risk.
With an outstanding amount bordering on 1.8 billion euros in France, it still attracts French households, despite a low return in euro funds "between 1 and 1.20% this year", predicts Philippe Crevel.
Insurers encourage savers to diversify their portfolio with riskier units of account.
“This can amount to 30, 40 or even 50% of the amount invested,” emphasizes Rodolphe Brunon.
To take less risk, you can spread your unit-linked investments over time, over six or twelve months.
It is a strategy that I put in place more and more.
By entering the market at different times, you will in fact minimize the danger of investing during a sharp drop in stock prices.
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Cautious stock market investments.
2020 saw a resurgence of French interest in stock market investments with 400,000 new investors identified by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).
The opening of an action savings plan (PEA) or securities account remains the most effective method to make your savings grow.
Rodolphe Brunon advises focusing on “values related to health, investment funds focusing on internal consumption in China or specializing in energy transition.
"In an unpredictable market, it is better to invest" in spurts, once a year, or every six months ", says Philippe Crevel.
“The stock market must be used to diversify its portfolio, but this must remain a complement to more secure investments.
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