The following chart gives a general idea of the best liquid investments (in other words, those for which your savings are always available). Here is a comparison of net returns:
Among the various possible investments, I advise you to opt for ETFs. These are investment funds that replicate a stock market index and this has at least two advantages:
This time, Crowdfunding equity comes out on top in terms of performance. This investment consists of investing in the capital of startups or investing in growing SMEs. It goes without saying that it is the riskiest investment. In addition to being an illiquid investment, you do not know when you will get your stake back. It is therefore not to be put in everyone’s hands. In the following we detail our selection of the best investments with, as a key, the cheapest banks and brokers! And if you prefer to be guided step by step, you can directly use our free simulator , and obtain a recommendation of the two investments best suited to your objective.
Performance : 8.5% on average
Favorable taxation (with PEA or life insurance)
Fairly low fees (with the right broker)
Available at any time
High volatility
To start investing, here are the three PEAs that we recommend:
The stock market is the best performing investment, but its volatility is high . This means that the performance of your investment will not be regular. You can gain 15% one year and lose 5% the following year. You must therefore consider the stock market in the long term: you must, at a minimum, have an investment horizon of more than 5 years. To invest in the stock market with peace of mind, we recommend that you have a solid precautionary savings account that you can dip into in case of hard times. This way, you don’t risk needing money when the stock market is down, which is the best way to realize losses. Life insurance allows you to build up precautionary savings effectively.
Set aside part of your assets for guaranteed or low-risk precautionary savings , typically the equivalent of 6 months of current expenses .
And invest the rest in the longer term (or in the stock market and, to a lesser extent, in real estate).
Secured with the euro fund
Performs well with stock market and real estate supports
Favorable taxation (after 8 years)
Benefits of succession
Available at any time
Fees (higher than in the PEA)
To avoid paying high fees, choose one of the best life insurance policies from our comparison.
Life insurance is a multifaceted and multifunctional investment that is divided into two compartments:
Life insurance is not only a useful investment to build up good precautionary savings. In addition to euro funds and real estate investments, you can also invest in the stock market, with investment funds and the famous ETFs we mentioned above.
What’s more, life insurance benefits from advantageous taxation (a little less than the PEA) and a tax framework that is very favorable to inheritance (we will come back to this point later).
this point, the best combination of investments is therefore as follows:
Precautionary savings : life insurance with euro funds and SCI.
Long-term savings : PEA with ETF (up to the ceiling of €150,000, then ETF in life insurance).
Please note that life insurance companies that offer SCI and ETFs can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Also, one of the drawbacks of life insurance is the fees.Fortunately, there are contracts with no entry fees and very reasonable management fees.
Here are our favorite contracts in free management, on the one hand, and in management under mandate on the other hand (which is more practical if you do not wish to choose your investment vehicles yourself).
The best self-management contracts
In addition to your precautionary savings and your long-term savings, I recommend keeping savings that can be easily mobilized for pleasure purchases, to replace your smartphone, or to go on vacation: this is availability savings.
The prerequisite for this savings is to be available in three clicks and fully guaranteed (which limits the choice).
The best solution for disposable savings is simply the Livret A. Its rate was raised to 3% per year (net of tax) on February 1, 2023, which is not so bad for a risk-free and tax-free investment. Its cousin, the LDDS (Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet) is also at 3%.
It is not really useful to fill your Livret A and your LDDS to the ceiling, €5,000 is generally enough, a little more if you are a spender. The surplus of your assets can be invested with greater performance in other investments.
: if you know that you are going to need a large sum in one or two years, to buy your main residence for example, then savings accounts are perfectly suitable. And, if you are above the ceilings, a bank account or a term account can be good complements.
If you are looking for a short-term investment that is profitable, you can turn to real estate crowdfunding . This type of participatory financing consists of financing a real estate development operation (or that of a property dealer). With real estate crowdfunding, you therefore lend money to developers for their work and you receive interest in return.
Real estate crowdfunding projects have a duration that can range from 12 months to 36 months with returns displayed in the order of 8% per year. It is therefore one of the best investments for the short term.
Be careful though, your money is completely blocked until the end of the operation and the risk is not negligible. The developer may encounter difficulties in reselling the property, which then results in late payments, or even a loss of capital if he resells at a loss. While the real estate market is seizing up, financing renewable energy projects (solar farm or wind farm) seems less risky and works in the same way ( see our comparison of crowdfunding platforms ).
However, if you want to invest in the short term with a guaranteed investment , you can look at the best term accounts . This time, no surprises: the rate and maturity are known in advance.
Performance : you can aim for a high return, of around 8% per year
It is a short-term investment : 1 to 3 years
Zero fees (they are taken from the promoters)
Your money is blocked
Your placement is not guaranteed
If you have already accumulated sufficient savings and would like to draw a regular income from them, we recommend SCPIs.
Regular and stable rents : 4% to 7% per year
Moderate risks
Money not blocked
Possibility to invest on credit
High entry fees (around 10%), unless you opt for the few SCPIs without fees
High taxation (subject to IR, unless via life insurance)
SCPIs (Sociétés Civiles de Placements Immobiliers) are investment companies that buy buildings (residential, office, or commercial premises) to rent them out. As an investor, you then receive a portion of the rent from its real estate portfolio.
It is therefore a real estate investment without the constraints : you do not have to find an apartment and tenants yourself. The regularity of the rents makes it one of the best investments for a retirement supplement. You can aim for an average return of around 4.5% and even higher than 6% with certain SCPIs.
Here is a selection of three SCPIs that we particularly like:
The taxation of SCPIs is quite punitive, especially if your marginal tax bracket is high.
But there is a trick, some life insurance policies allow you to invest in SCPIs . From a tax rate of 30%, 41% or 45% depending on your marginal tax bracket, you can therefore go down to 7.5% and benefit from the annual life insurance deductions .
Be careful though, there are not many contracts that manage SCPIs well. We recommend Linxea Spirit 2 and Placement Direct Vie , which come out on top in our comparison of life insurance dedicated to SCPIs.
There are many investments that allow you to reduce your taxes and the PER is one of our favorites.
The PER (Retirement Savings Plan) allows you to deduct your payments from your taxable income. In concrete terms, if you invest 10,000 euros every year and your taxable income is 100,000 euros, then you will only pay taxes on 90,000 euros, i.e. an immediate tax saving of 4,100 euros if, as in this example, you are in the marginal bracket of 41%. Note, however, that the amount deductible each year is capped (by the retirement savings ceiling ).
Like life insurance, the PER is an envelope that allows you to invest in the stock market, in real estate funds, or in a euro fund with guaranteed capital. In addition to advantageous taxation, you therefore have the possibility of composing your investment portfolio à la carte, according to the desired risk profile.
Keep in mind that with the PER you defer taxation over time : payments are deductible from your taxable income, but all withdrawals are taxed upon withdrawal (capital and capital gains). The tax gain will therefore be all the more interesting if your tax is high at the time of payments and low at the time of withdrawals.
Also note that the PER is blocked until retirement. However, there are cases of early withdrawal: the purchase of your main residence and certain accidents in life.
The PER is particularly well suited if you are over 45 or 50 years old, so that your savings will not be blocked for too long. In addition, you also maximize your tax gain because your income is often higher at the end of your career (and your taxes too).
As with other investments, we advise you not to go to your usual bank branch to open a PER. In fact, it is with online brokers that you will obtain the best pricing conditions.
Here are the two best PERs that we have selected (one in free management and the other in managed management).
The PER is not the only investment that allows you to reduce your taxes. You will find a complete list in this comparison dedicated to tax exemption. However, I would like to mention two other very interesting investments:
Forestry groups, which allow you to invest in French forests. This little-known investment nevertheless has many advantages. It is a stable and low-risk investment with a return of around 2% per year. But above all, it is an investment that allows you to reduce your taxes by around 18 to 25% of the amount invested, which is almost not subject to the IFI, and which benefits from an advantageous inheritance framework.
These investments are not very liquid, if at all. It is therefore advisable not to abuse them. I recommend them exclusively to people who already have a good precautionary savings and a well-stocked PEA. In any case, they should not exceed 5 to 10% of your financial assets.
Also note that their tax advantage is limited by the overall ceiling of tax breaks.
To conclude our overview of the best investments, let’s mention ecological or eco-responsible investments. They are in reality a subcategory of certain investments seen previously:
To find out more, read our article dedicated to eco-responsible investments!
| Investment horizon | Investment type | Risk | Average gross yield | Taxation | Tax exemption | Comparison and selection | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livret A and LDD | Short term | Monetary | Null | 3% | Exempt | Best online bank Passbook | |
| Passbook | Short term | Monetary | Null | 1 to 3% | PFU | Best booklet | |
| Term account | Short term | Monetary | Null | 1 to 4% | PFU | Best Term Account | |
| Real estate crowdfunding | Short term | Bond | AVERAGE | 8% | PFU | Real estate crowdfunding platforms |
It all depends on your profile and your goal! To tell the truth, there is no investment, but a better combination of investments.
In the very short term (6 to 18 months), it will be difficult to do better than your Livret A and your LDDS. Over a horizon of 1 to 3 years, real estate crowdfunding is, however, an interesting alternative, because it performs much better. We tell you more in our article on short-term investments.
If you don’t want to take any risks, there are several options available to you: savings accounts, term accounts and euro funds. We tell you more in our article on risk-free investments.
Quite frankly, no Crédit Agricole investment is good. The booklets offer ridiculous rates, Crédit Agricole life insurance policies are full of fees and the same goes for stock market investments. To find the best investments, we recommend that you turn to investment specialists!
Gold is an interesting investment as a safe haven and to fight against inflation and even hyperinflation . However, it is a diversification investment that should not represent a large part of your assets. We explain how to buy gold here.
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