A large majority of French people now anticipate retirement at 64 or older.

Faced with rising prices, 65% of the French have reduced their spending in 2023 and, in this context, “precautionary savings, the Livret A in the first place”, is acclaimed in France, underlines a survey* carried out by the Center for Studies and Knowledge on Public Opinion (CECOP) commissioned by AG2R, Amphitéa and the Cercle de l’épargne.

“The French place, in 2023, the Livret A (65%) at the head of the most interesting investments, ahead of real estate rental (60%) and life insurance (56%)”, details the study.

Therefore, the preferred investment of the French continues to be the Livret A, judged as “an effective investment to fight inflation” by those questioned. In fact, the rate of return on this star product increased from 2% to 3% on February 1st and remains popular even if below inflation, which is now over 6% in France.

The Livret d’Épargne Populaire, despite a higher return (6.1% since February compared to 3%), is nevertheless less quoted “due to its lower distribution (this product, the opening of which is subject to a condition of income , n is in the hands of only 7% of the French), “says the survey.

Retirement, a matter of concern

The survey highlights that the proportion of French respondents who are saving for retirement has fallen by 2023. They are now 47% of the sample who personally put money into a savings product to improve their retirement, compared to 52% a year before and 57%% in February 2019 before the pandemic. Results “that attest to the problems of purchasing power,” the document underlines.

Retirement savings products are also less popular than other less specific investments. Likewise, in order to maintain their standard of living as much as possible during retirement, those surveyed mentioned first, among several possible options, owning their main home (48%), then saving on life insurance ( 18%) and invest in rental property (18%). The retirement savings plan (PER) only occupies the fourth position (with 14%). Respondents also plan to combine a job for a few years with their retirement (14%) or continue working as long as possible to improve the amount of their pension (14%).

“The French, if they want to retire as soon as possible, seem resigned to delaying their departure”, point out the researchers, who emphasize that 48% of those surveyed think “they will liquidate their pensions only from the moment they meet the conditions to have access to a full board.” By comparison, 26% of those surveyed accept the idea of ​​leaving earlier with a discount.

62% of those surveyed plan to leave at age 64 or later.

Three quarters of the French people surveyed believe that the legal retirement age could reach 65 years, or even a little more. Two-thirds believe that their pensions “are or will be insufficient to live adequately,” with women and people with the lowest incomes being the most concerned, according to the survey.

In a tense social context and against the background of the pension reform, the document also highlights the concerns raised about the standard of living in retirement, which may explain the desire to “liquidate their pension rights only when they are certain to be able to benefit from the full rate”.

Additionally, when non-retired individuals are asked about their desired retirement age, 19% indicate that they would ideally retire before age 60, 36% at age 60, 25% at age 62, the 3% at 63 years, 7% at 64 years and 5% at 65 years. Only 5% would like to leave at age 67 or later. But the French are perfectly aware that this will be quite far from reality. In addition, when we ask them the age at which they really plan to leave, the difference is notable: 10% believe that this departure age is less than 60 years, 8% at 60, 15% at 62, 5 % at 63 years of age, 19% at 64 years of age, 15% at 65 years of age, 13% at 67 years of age and 15% at those over 67 years of age. In other words, 62% believe that they will retire at 64 (the new legal retirement age that will be introduced gradually) or later.