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Assurance-vie simulator: capital, capital gains and actual taxation after 8 years
Assurance-vie is not an investment: it's a legal and tax-efficient vehicle in which you house a strategy. With nearly €2,000 billion in assets under management, it's the leading financial asset of the French — but also the most underutilised.
Your projected capital, your capital gain, and the actual tax on a redemption after 8 years
€4,600 / €9,200 allowance, 7.5% flat-rate levy, 17.2% social charges
The €152,500 allowance per beneficiary, outside the estate
The simulator
Simulate your assurance-vie contract
Enter your initial payment, your monthly savings, your horizon and your contract's features. The simulator projects the final capital, the capital gain and the tax on a full redemption after 8 years. Your data is neither stored nor transmitted.
Assurance-vie simulator
Project the value of your contract, your capital gain and its taxation after 8 years — net of fees.
Indicative calculation, based on 2026 rules and the assumptions entered above.
Why
Why assurance-vie remains the foundation of any structured wealth
Nearly 80% of French assurance-vie contracts are distributed through banking networks, using a handful of in-house products often burdened with high fees. This is precisely where the first performance loss occurs—not in market returns, but in the contract's structure.
Because assurance-vie doesn't derive its strength from intrinsic returns: it's a vehicle. Inside, you can invest whatever you want—guaranteed capital euro funds, unit-linked funds (stocks, bonds, real estate, private equity), managed or self-directed investment. Its value lies in two tax advantages that nothing else combines.
The first is tax-free compounding: as long as the money stays invested, gains are never taxed. Tax arises only on redemption, and only on the capital gain portion — never on the capital paid in. The second is passing on wealth outside the estate, which neither the PEA nor a securities account allows. These are the two levers most contracts underuse.
What the calculation shows
The 3 levers this simulator reveals (and your banker does not optimise)
Before 8 years, redeemed gains are subject to the 30% flat tax (PFU) (12.8% income tax + 17.2% social charges). After 8 years, two advantages combine: an annual allowance on gains of €4,600 (€9,200 for a couple), then a reduced rate of 7.5% instead of 12.8% on the portion corresponding to premiums paid up to €150,000. In practice, a couple can withdraw nearly €9,200 of gains each year with no income tax at all — only the 17.2% social charges remain due. Few savers manage their redemptions to use this allowance year after year.
For premiums paid before age 70, each named beneficiary receives up to €152,500 entirely free of duties, outside the estate. Beyond that, the tax is 20% and then 31.25% — rates far lower than inheritance tax outside the direct line (up to 60%). But this advantage only holds if the beneficiary clause is tailor-made. A clause left as the “default” or poorly worded can lose most of the benefit, trigger avoidable tax, or leave out a loved one you meant to protect.
A 1% difference in annual fees — the usual gap between a bank-network contract and an open-architecture contract — cuts the final capital by 20 to 28% over 30 years. On €200,000 invested at 6% gross, that is nearly €100,000 lost to compounded fees. The choice of contract therefore matters as much as the choice of funds: it is the most decisive choice, and the one least discussed by distributors who live off these fees.
Case study
Case study: Philippe, 58, business owner in Bordeaux
Philippe invests €200,000 from a partial sale, plus €1,000 a month for 12 years, in an open-architecture contract targeting 4.5% net of fund charges. Here is what the simulator projects at the end of the term, after 8 years of holding:
| Indicator | Bank contract (1.4% fees) | Open architecture (0.6% fees) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Projected capital after 12 years | ≈ €430,000 | ≈ €452,000 | +€22,000 |
| Capital gain | ≈ €86,000 | ≈ €108,000 | +€22,000 |
| Tax on a full redemption | ≈ €21,000 | ≈ €24,000 | — |
| Passing on (2 children) | €305,000 exempt | €305,000 exempt | — |
The €22,000 difference comes from no additional risk-taking: it stems solely from the contract's fee structure. On the portion passed on, the beneficiary clause lets Philippe pass €152,500 to each of his two children outside the estate, where a standard transfer would have been taxed at up to 20%.
This case illustrates a simple rule: with the same allocation, it is the wrapper and the wording of the clause that make the difference — not the market.
In practice
The wrapper does not make the strategy
This simulator gives an order of magnitude. The real value is created upstream: choosing a contract with controlled fees in open architecture, a split between euro fund and unit-linked funds in line with your horizon, a tailor-made beneficiary clause, and coordination with your PER, your property and, where relevant, your company.
Balmont Conseil is a wealth management advisory firm based in Lyon, a member of ANACOFI-CIF, and has no capital ties to any bank. We operate with an open architecture approach, working with 23 partner insurers and asset managers: we select contracts and investment vehicles from among our partners, always acting in your best interest. Let's book an appointment to audit your current contract and quantify what optimisation would gain you.
Frequently asked questions
What clients ask us.
When does assurance-vie become tax-efficient?
From subscription, gains compound tax-free. The maximum advantage kicks in after 8 years of holding: an annual allowance of €4,600 (€9,200 for a couple) on redeemed gains, then a reduced rate of 7.5% on the portion corresponding to premiums paid up to €150,000. It therefore makes sense to open a contract early, even with a modest payment, to “start the clock”.
What happens tax-wise when the contract is passed on?
For premiums paid before age 70, each beneficiary receives up to €152,500 entirely free of duties, outside the estate. Beyond that, the tax is 20% up to €700,000, then 31.25%. For premiums paid after age 70, an overall allowance of €30,500 applies (all beneficiaries combined), but the accumulated interest remains entirely exempt. The wording of the beneficiary clause is decisive in optimising this transfer.
Euro fund or unit-linked funds: how to choose?
The euro fund guarantees the capital, but its return (2.5 to 3.5% today) barely keeps pace with inflation. Unit-linked funds aim for higher performance at the price of a risk of capital loss. The right split depends on your horizon and your risk tolerance: the longer the horizon, the higher the share of unit-linked funds can be, as time smooths out volatility.
Why do a contract's fees matter so much?
Because they compound negatively, exactly like interest but in reverse. A 1% difference in annual fees means 20 to 28% less final capital over 30 years. That is the structural gap between a bank-network contract and an open-architecture contract: the choice of contract matters as much as the choice of funds.
What is the difference between Balmont Conseil and a bank adviser?
Balmont Conseil is a wealth management advisory firm based in Lyon, a member of ANACOFI-CIF, with no capital ties to any bank. We work on an open-architecture basis: contracts and investment options are selected from among our partners according to the client's interest. A bank adviser distributes their network's products; we build a tailor-made wealth structure.
