Assurance Vie

[LizzieR]

Has anyone had any experience of an Assurance Vie. We visited our local bank who gave us the blurb but then discussed this with our English friends who have lived in France for many years and their experience was quite disturbing so I wondered if anyone has good or bad information to share.
Many Thanks
Lizzie R

[Bevdeforges]

Assurance vie in France is an investment account. (Honestly, it has little or nothing to do with what we anglo-saxons think of as "insurance" or "assurance.") The assurance vie in France are set up to take advantage of particularities in the French fiscal law - mainly that, if you hold them for at least 8 years and only start withdrawing from them after you reach the age of retirement, the taxes on the income that has accumulated in the fund are considerably lighter than if you'd simply been investing all the time.

The tax advantages pretty much exist only in the French tax system. I know you're from the UK, but when I looked into assurance vie for myself a year or so ago, I found that the US tax authorities and their rules pretty much cancel out any French tax benefits, so in the long run I found it easier to just keep my "investments" in the US and draw on them as needed according to US tax law.

Your mileage WILL vary, as I realize you probably aren't subject to UK taxation these days.
Cheers,
Bev

[LizzieR]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Assurance vie in France is an investment account. (Honestly, it has little or nothing to do with what we anglo-saxons think of as "insurance" or "assurance.") The assurance vie in France are set up to take advantage of particularities in the French fiscal law - mainly that, if you hold them for at least 8 years and only start withdrawing from them after you reach the age of retirement, the taxes on the income that has accumulated in the fund are considerably lighter than if you'd simply been investing all the time.

The tax advantages pretty much exist only in the French tax system. I know you're from the UK, but when I looked into assurance vie for myself a year or so ago, I found that the US tax authorities and their rules pretty much cancel out any French tax benefits, so in the long run I found it easier to just keep my "investments" in the US and draw on them as needed according to US tax law.

Your mileage WILL vary, as I realize you probably aren't subject to UK taxation these days.
Cheers,
Bev

Hi Bev,
Thank you for your reply. We feel that taking advantage of the various savings accounts is probably our best (and safest) bet.
Kind Regards
Lizzie R