Retirement Savings Plan: The Rise of a Product That Has Become Indispensable
More than 12 million French people now hold a PER, with total assets exceeding 130 billion euros. Driven by concerns about the standard of living in retirement, an attractive tax benefit, and a cultural shift among younger generations, this product—created under the PACTE law—is experiencing spectacular growth that is transforming the landscape of long-term savings.
Retirement Anxiety: The Driving Force Behind a Meteoric Rise
In its Report No. 140, published in February 2026, the Cercle de l’Épargne described the rise of the Retirement Savings Plan (PER) as “the most significant phenomenon of recent years” in the field of savings. Created in 2019 by the PACTE Act to replace a host of older schemes (PERP, Madelin, PERCO, Article 83), the PER quickly found its audience. In just a few years, it has established itself as an indispensable pillar of long-term savings: more than 12 million French people hold at least one—whether individual or group—with assets under management exceeding 130 billion euros.
The driving force behind this growth is clear: concern about retirement. More than 70% of working adults believe their future pensions will not allow them to live comfortably, according to the Cercle de l’Épargne’s 2025 survey. More than one in two French people say they are saving specifically for retirement. In a country where the pay-as-you-go system faces considerable demographic and budgetary challenges, individual savings have now become an essential supplement.
The PER is particularly popular among the self-employed—for whom it compensates for the relative inadequacy of pay-as-you-go pensions—and among executives, who are concerned with maintaining their standard of living and have the financial capacity to set aside long-term savings. The tax benefit at the outset—the deductibility of contributions from taxable income—is a powerful draw, particularly for taxpayers in the highest tax brackets. The simplification brought about by the PACTE Act, which unified all former retirement savings products under a single legal framework, also played a decisive role in the widespread adoption of the PER. Gone is the maze of options: the PER offers clarity and flexibility that its predecessors lacked, with the option to receive a lump-sum payment or an annuity at retirement.
A Major Cultural Shift Among Younger Generations
Perhaps the most striking finding revealed by the Cercle de l’Épargne report is the shift in mindset among younger generations regarding retirement savings. According to the 2025 survey, 62% of French people believe one should start saving for retirement before age 35, and 54% of 18- to 25-year-olds consider it necessary to begin before age 30. Defined-contribution plans—long viewed with suspicion in a country historically attached to the pay-as-you-go system—are now accepted as a necessity by younger generations. Le Cercle rightly refers to this as a “major cultural shift.”
From a macroeconomic perspective, this trend is profoundly transformative. It is converting a growing portion of household savings into long-term savings—a resource that the productive economy desperately needs.
At a time when France is seeking to finance its reindustrialization, its energy transition, and its growing defense needs, the PER could well become a key tool for channeling national savings toward long-term financing.
However, the government must resist the temptation to change the tax rules along the way: savers’ confidence in the stability of the regulatory framework is an essential prerequisite for the long-term success of this forward-looking product. Past experience shows that every change to the rules governing retirement savings leads to a temporary freeze on contributions and a loss of confidence that is difficult to restore. The PER will only deliver on its promises within a stable and predictable tax framework.
