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Savings & financial products
25 articles, each with its source and caveats.
"The more you invest, the richer you get." In Q1 2026, French households invested €32.0bn, yet their financial wealth fell by €39.2bn.−€39.2bn the change in French households' financial wealth in Q1 2026, despite €32.0bn of new investments
"Inflation is back." In August 2026, French consumer prices rose 2.4% year on year. But excluding energy and volatile items, core inflation fell, to 1.1%.1.1% France's core inflation in August 2026, down, versus 2.4% for the headline index
"The Livret A is still France's favourite savings account." Yet since January 2026, savers have withdrawn €5.4bn more than they paid in.−€5.4bn net inflows into the Livret A from January to August 2026: withdrawals exceeded deposits
Sep 17"When purchasing power falls, people tighten their belts." In the second quarter of 2026, French households' purchasing power fell 0.6% per consumption unit — and their spending rose 0.3%.17.2% — the French household saving ratio in the second quarter of 2026, after 17.9% the previous quarter
Sep 12"A euro fund quotes a net rate, so it carries no fees." The 2.63% credited in 2025 is what remains after a 0.63% management charge. Before that deduction, the return works out at 3.26%.19.3% — the share of the 2025 euro-fund return absorbed by management charges on assets, before any tax
Sep 11"French euro funds paid 2.63% in 2025." That is a market average. Within a single insurer, the gap between the best and worst rewarded contracts reaches 0.99 percentage point.0.99 point — the 2025 gap between the best and worst rewarded groups of contracts at the same insurer, against an average rate of 2.63%
Sep 9The "4% rule" says you can withdraw 4% of your capital every year without ever exhausting it. In the study that established it, the rule holds in 95% of thirty-year periods with half the portfolio in equities, and in 20% with no equities at all.95% vs 20% — the success rate of the 4% rule over thirty years with inflation-adjusted withdrawals: 95% for a half-equity portfolio, 20% for bonds alone
Sep 8Ongoing costs on retail equity funds in the EU fell 8% in 2024. For funds that already existed, the fall was only 3%. The difference comes from new, cheaper funds entering the average.−8% vs −3% — the fall in ongoing costs of retail equity UCITS in 2024: −8% across the market, −3% for funds already in place (ESMA)
Sep 3The dollar trades at 2,209,000 rials on Tehran's free market. The figure reads like geopolitical news; it is first a levy on Iranian savings. Over twelve months the dollar went from a low of 974,500 rials to a high of 2,218,000.2,209,000 rials — the price of one US dollar on Tehran's free market, quoted on 3 September 2026 at 00:30 local time
Sep 2In the first quarter of 2026, French households set aside 17.4% of their gross disposable income. The average across the twenty years before Covid was 14.2%. Six years on, the rate has never come back down.17.4% vs 14.2% — the gross household saving rate in France in the first quarter of 2026, seasonally adjusted, against its 2000-2019 average
Sep 1In 2022 US equities lost 19.44%. The sleeve meant to cushion the blow — the ten-year US Treasury — lost 16.26%. Both halves of the portfolio fell together.−16.26% — the 2022 total return of a ten-year US Treasury bought at par on 31 December 2021, price effect and coupon included, while the S&P 500 lost 19.44% in price terms
Aug 30A fund must hold more than 75% of its assets in European securities to qualify for the PEA. Synthetic ETFs meet that quota while swapping the performance away: the government has dropped its plan to close that door in 2027.75% — the minimum share of European assets a collective investment fund must hold to qualify for the French PEA, under article L. 221-31 of the monetary and financial code — the rule synthetic ETFs satisfy while swapping the performance of those holdings for that of a non-European index
Aug 27French residents hold 51% of their listed equities in French-issued shares, while France accounts for 3 to 4% of world stock market capitalisation.51% vs 3-4% — the share of listed equities held by all French resident sectors that were issued in France, at end-2024, against France's weight in global stock market capitalisation
Aug 24Leaving money in a current account looks like a neutral decision: you earn nothing, but you lose nothing either. Measured against twenty years of French inflation, the bill can be worked out precisely.6,950 EUR out of 10,000 — the purchasing power left in 2025 to 10,000 euros parked in a non-interest-bearing account since 2005, after the French harmonised consumer price index rose 43.9% over the period
Aug 17Deducting your PER contributions isn't a tax gift — it's a tax deferral, repayable when you withdraw.€3,000 vs. €3,000 — the tax saving from deducting €10,000 of PER (French retirement savings plan) contributions at the 30% marginal rate, versus the tax owed on that same capital at withdrawal, at the same rate — before any effect of the investment's growth
Aug 16The French Treasury wants to exclude from the PEA the ETFs that replicate the S&P 500 or MSCI World via a swap.75% — the minimum share of European stocks a fund must hold to remain eligible for the PEA (France's tax-advantaged equity savings plan) — the rule these synthetic ETFs follow on paper, while replicating U.S. performance through a swap contract with a bank
Aug 15On CFDs and forex, losing money isn't the exception — it's the statistical norm, measured by the regulator itself.89% — of retail clients ended up in a loss over four cumulative years of CFD and forex trading, at brokers licensed in France
Aug 16The reported return on euro-denominated life insurance funds isn't what you actually receive: social levies take a cut every year, withdrawal or not.2.63% vs. 2.18% — average 2025 return on French euro-denominated life insurance funds, before and after the 17.2% annual social security levies
Aug 13Revolut has obtained its French banking license. The amount guaranteed on your deposits doesn't change by a single euro.€100,000 before, €100,000 after — deposit guarantee ceiling, identical before and after the license — what changes is who guarantees it
Aug 13One single percentage point of fees a year doesn't cost one point. Over thirty years, it swallows nearly a quarter of the final capital.€18,700 out of €10,000 — what one percentage point of annual fees takes from €10,000 invested for thirty years at 7%
Aug 8The Livret A doesn't protect your savings from inflation. Right now, it's costing you purchasing power.1.70% vs. 2.1% — Livret A rate since August 1, 2026, against the year-on-year rise in prices in July 2026