Popular Retirement Savings Plan (Perp)

Verified 01 January 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The Popular Retirement Savings Plan (Perp) is a long-term savings product. It is no longer marketed since the 1er October 2020 due to the creation of the Retirement Savings Plan (RSP). However, if you have a Perp, you can still feed it and keep it or transfer the money to a PER.

To transfer the money you saved on the Perp to a PER, you must apply to the managing body.

You can apply online, if it is proposed by the organization, otherwise by paper mail.

Following your request, the managing body of your Perp has the obligation to open a PER for you and transfer the savings accumulated on your Perp.

But beware, the transfer gives rise to fees which vary from one organization to another.

You can inquire beforehand about the amount of the fees before requesting the transfer.

The Perp is a personal insurance contract that allows you to obtain, at the time of retirement, a supplementary income paid in principle in the form of life annuity.

The Perp is funded by the payments you make during your working life.

You can unlock your Perp as soon as possible on the date you receive your retirement pension or when you have reached the legal age Retirement (between 62 and 64 depending on your year of birth).

Payments on the Perp can be periodic and fixed amount, or free and without amount conditions.

The Perp managing body shall comply with the following obligations:

  • Regularly inform you of the evolution of the account
  • Inform you every year of the amount of any fees charged
  • Provide you with an estimate of the life annuity that he'll have to pay you
  • Specify the conditions for transferring your contract to another savings product.

The money saved on the Perp is invested on different media that resemble contractsof life insurance.

Three types of contracts are possible:

  • Deferred life annuity contract: direct acquisition of annuity rights, which are already calculated according to known mortality tables
  • Contract in annuity units: acquisition of points that will be converted into an annuity, as for retirement
  • Multi-support contract: constitution of a capital which will be converted into a life annuity or paid in cash

Savings paid on the Perp are in principle blocked until the time of retirement. But it can be released early in some cases.

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Exceptional situations (invalidity, death of the Civil partnership or partner, over-indebtedness, etc.)

It is possible to unlock your savings early in particular in the following cases:

  • Disability
  • Death of your spouse or Civil partnership partner
  • Expiry of your entitlement to unemployment benefits
  • Over-indebtedness (the request to release the Perp must be made by the over-indebtedness commission)
  • Cessation of self-employed activity following a judgment of judicial liquidation
  • Perp savings less than €2,000

Please note

Early release for savings of less than €2,000 Perp for scheduled installments over 4 years old and Perp for free installments that have not been paid for 4 years. To benefit from it, you must have incomes below the first tranche of income.

To request the early release of the Perp, you must apply to the managing body.

The request can be made online or by letter, preferably registered, depending on the organization.

It shall include the following elements:

  • Proof of identity
  • Bank identity statement of the account to which you wish to obtain payment
  • Proof of the exceptional situation of early release that you invoke

FYI  

You must make the request as soon as possible and within 2 years at the latest which follow the date on which you became aware of the exceptional situation of early release.

Death of the holder

If you die, the amount of your pension can be paid back as a life annuity to:

  • Your surviving spouse or partner of Civil partnerships
  • Or any other beneficiary that you have expressly designated in the plan

In the absence of a spouse, Civil partnership partner and designated beneficiary, the amount will be paid as an education pension for your minor children.

If you do not have a minor child, Perp's savings are part of your estate's assets.

At retirement, when you unlock the Perp, the accumulated savings are in principle paid as a life annuity. The payment of capital is limited to exceptional cases.

If the contract so provides, you can request that part of the savings be paid in capital. The breakdown is as follows:

  • Paid-up capital of 20% of the contract's cash value
  • Life annuity up to 80%

Please note

If the amount of the pension does not exceed €110 per month, the insurer may, with your consent, pay all of the capital savings. The conversion of a small annuity into capital may be exercised at the time of the release of the contract or when the annuities are being paid.

The capital payment is also authorized to finance the purchase (or construction) of a 1era primary residence as of the date of receipt of your retirement pension or as of the statutory retirement age. A lump sum can be paid to you if you have not owned your principal residence in the 2 years preceding the release of the Perp.

Tax deduction of amounts paid

The tax advantage of Perp is to reduce the amount of your taxable income, which leads to a reduction in your tax.

Indeed, you can deduct from your taxable income of one year the amounts you paid out of the Perp in the same year. But this deduction is limited.

This annual deduction may not exceed an individual ceiling determined for each member of your tax home.

Example :

You declare €30,000 of taxable income and €1,200 Perp.

With the deduction of Perp payments, your taxable income goes from €30,000 à €28,800.

This results in a tax cut that varies depending on the composition of your tax household.

FYI  

The individual ceiling available for retirement savings contributions paid in the current year (year N) is calculated automatically by the tax authorities. You can find this information on your tax notice on the revenues of year N-1.

If you are married or past and subject to joint taxation, you can opt (at the time of your tax return) for the pooling of your individual ceilings. They are then added together.

The annual deduction is not limited to Perp contributions. This is a ceiling that also concerns the amounts paid on other retirement savings schemes (individual PER, PERECO, etc.).

The maximum deductibility limit for contributions paid in 2026 (year N) is set at:

  • 10 % of 2025 occupational income (year N-1), net of social security contributions and occupational expenses, with a maximum deduction of €37,680,
  • or €4,710 if this amount is higher.

Tax payable on annuity or principal received

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Annuity outing

The annuity paid following the release of the Perp is taxed annually on income tax according to rules applicable to life annuities, pensions and pensions.

Outflow in annuity and capital

If you opt for an exit to 80% in annuity and 20% in capital, the annuity is taxed annually on income tax according to the rules applicable to life annuities, pensions and pensions.

Capital is in principle taxed according to progressive scale of income tax.

But you can opt for a withholding tax of 7.5%, if the following two conditions are met:

  • Paid-in capital at once
  • Perp funded only with tax deductible payments

Total capital outflow for contracts whose annuity does not exceed €110 per month

The capital is taxed according to progressive scale of income tax.

You can opt for a withholding tax of 7.5%, if the following two conditions are met:

  • Paid-in capital at once
  • Perp funded only with tax deductible payments

Paid-up capital in case of early redemption for exceptional event

The paid-up capital in exceptional cases of early release of the Perp is exempt from income tax.

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