Madelin pension plan simulator (self-employed): protection and tax savings

Simulate the net cost of your insurance

The simulator applies your marginal tax bracket to the deductible contribution. Your data is neither stored nor transmitted.

The blind spot in social protection for the self-employed

An employee who takes time off work has their income maintained by a system they often don't even realize exists: daily allowances from Social Security supplemented by company group insurance, death benefits, and disability pensions. The self-employed worker, however, has none of these automatic safety nets. A self-employed individual who falls ill or has an accident sees their income plummet, with mandatory benefits that are low, or even nonexistent depending on their insurance plan. The income that finances everything—lifestyle, loans, children's education—comes to an abrupt halt.

It is precisely this gap that the Madelin retirement savings plan fills. It allows you to build up a replacement income in the form of daily allowances and a disability pension, and to protect your loved ones with a lump sum or a death benefit. And it relies on a powerful tax mechanism: contributions are deductible from taxable income, up to a specific limit. For those in a high tax bracket, the tax savings cover a significant portion of the contribution—the protection is much less expensive than it seems, as the government co-finances a portion of it.

This is the first step in securing a self-employed business owner's future, even before considering savings or tax optimization: protecting the income that finances everything else. However, the contract must be appropriately sized. This is where an advisor, a member of ANACOFI and free from any obligation to produce policies by an insurer, makes all the difference: they tailor the coverage to your actual situation, not to a network's sales formula.

What the TNS discovers too late

Lever 1: Base guarantees on actual income, not on a standard

The most costly mistake isn't the absence of a contract, it's the wrong size. The daily allowance must cover your essential expenses, the waiting period (the time before compensation) must be consistent with your emergency cash reserves, and the death benefit must correspond to your actual liabilities: outstanding loans, years of income to replace for your spouse, children's education. A hastily purchased contract often pays a disability pension calculated on an outdated basis, or a death benefit disproportionate to your family's debts. The coverage must be appropriate for your family situation and expenses—no more, no less.

Lever 2: Integrating insurance, health, and retirement into a single structure

Personal protection shouldn't be considered in isolation. Together with the Madelin health insurance plan and the PER (Retirement Savings Plan), it forms the three pillars of protection for business leaders: health insurance covers day-to-day expenses, personal protection insurance rebuilds income in case of hardship, and retirement planning prepares them for the future. These three components share the same Madelin framework and the same deduction limits—hence the advantage of prioritizing them together rather than stacking them. A euro spent on personal protection insurance is no longer available elsewhere: optimization is achieved at the overall level, and that's precisely what a comprehensive audit helps determine.

Lever 3: Avoid invisible undercoverage and reversible clauses

Under-insurance is never apparent until a claim arises. Many self-employed individuals believe they are protected by a minimal policy taken out when they started their business, which is never reviewed even though their income has doubled. Conversely, some over-insure a policy that is essentially worthless. The classic pitfalls include: restrictive disability definitions (disability "any profession" instead of "your profession"), overly broad exclusions, poorly chosen deductibles, or a fixed death benefit. A benefits review with an advisor prevents both under-insurance and over-insurance, and re-examines the clauses line by line—where unpleasant surprises often lurk.

Case study: Elodie, 42 years old, self-employed dental surgeon in Lyon

Élodie earns a comfortable profit and has never seriously reviewed the insurance policy she took out when she started her business. In the event of a prolonged absence, her mandatory benefits would barely cover her fixed expenses. She sets up a Madelin contract with an annual premium of €4,800, based on her actual income. Here, at a marginal tax rate of 41 %, is what this coverage actually costs:

The Madelin tax deduction transforms a €4,800 contribution into a net cost of approximately €2,832: the state finances nearly 41% of its protection. The leverage increases with the income bracket—at 45%, the net cost would fall below €2,650; at 30%, it would rise to around €3,360. But the real benefit is not tax-related: it's the certainty that a work stoppage won't destabilize one's household.

This case illustrates a simple rule: self-employed workers' insurance is not an expense; it's the foundation that secures all their other assets. And its actual cost, once deductions are applied, is almost always lower than the business owner imagines.

Protection is checked before the disaster, not during.

This simulator provides a rough estimate of the net cost. The real value is created upstream: sizing benefits based on your actual income, choosing the right definition of disability, adjusting the death benefit to your family liabilities, and integrating assurance-vie with your health and retirement plans within a coherent Madelin framework.

Balmont Conseil is an objective wealth management firm, a member of ANACOFI, with no capital ties to any insurer or bank. This objectivity allows for a truly objective insurance audit: we compare contracts across the entire market and review your coverage solely in your best interest. Let's make an appointment to audit your current coverage and identify your blind spots before they become apparent.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly does a Madelin pension contract cover?

Three major risks to which the self-employed are exposed without sufficient mandatory safety nets: work stoppage (daily allowances that provide replacement income), disability (annuity paid in case of permanent incapacity), and death (lump sum or annuity paid to designated beneficiaries). All of this is tailored to your family situation and expenses, whereas the mandatory system often pays only small amounts, or even none at all depending on the scheme.

Why do self-employed individuals need more insurance coverage than salaried employees?

Because an employee automatically receives daily allowances from Social Security, supplemented by their company's group insurance, a death benefit, and disability coverage. The self-employed worker does not have any of these automatic protections: they must build them up themselves. The Madelin retirement savings plan is the tool that restores this balance by rebuilding the income that finances everything else.

How do contributions reduce my taxes?

Madelin pension contributions are deductible from your taxable income, up to a specific limit. The actual savings depend on your marginal tax bracket: at 41 %, each euro of deductible contribution reduces your tax by 41 cents. This is precisely what the simulator calculates: it applies your tax bracket to the deductible contribution to reveal the true net cost of your coverage.

How can I tell if my insurance policies are adequate?

This is the whole point of an audit. The right steps to take: verify that the level of compensation covers your unavoidable expenses, that the definition of disability specifies "your profession" rather than "any profession," that the death benefit corresponds to your actual liabilities (loans, years of income to be replaced), and that the deductible is consistent with your cash flow. A coverage plan established once and for all at the start of operations is almost always outdated a few years later.

What is the difference between Balmont Conseil and an insurer or a bank?

An insurer distributes its own policies; a bank, those of its network. Balmont Conseil is an objective wealth management firm, a member of ANACOFI, with no financial ties to any insurer or bank. This objectivity allows us to compare insurance policies across the entire market, to review your clauses with complete transparency, and to tailor your coverage solely to your individual circumstances—not to any sales objective.