Life insurance : if you invest in units of account, beware of the warranty floor !

on the one hand, insurers encourage (strongly) to turn to the units of account, media that can earn you more than the funds in euros, but the capital value is not guaranteed... Of the other, they forget to point a "details" to be crucial : the terms and conditions of any guaranteed floor of their contracts.

All holders of a life insurance contract the know : by placing their money in units of account and not within the euro funds, they not only take risks, but it is up to them, and them alone, to bear...! In plain language this means that if the equity markets do return, they will not get back, in case of need, as smaller amounts than those originally invested.

This "less-value" potential is not a concern for investors who have the time or opportunity to make a big back. But it is a major handicap for investors who choose the life insurance in order to transmit reliably and optimized, that is to say, out rights of succession (to the tune of 152 500€ per beneficiary, for payments made before the age of 70 years), a part of their heritage... In fact, if they die while the CPU on which they have placed their money are long term in berne, the beneficiaries of their contract will receive less than the amount of the sums actually invested.

relying on a guaranteed floor : a necessity !

To avoid the unpleasant consequences of a perspective of capital loss, there is only one solution : to be able to rely on a warranty called the floor, whose role is to bridge the difference (also referred to as capital under risk) between the amounts actually invested and the value - down - the CPU at the time of the death of the subscriber.

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With this warranty pension (that are available without a medical questionnaire, but operational at the end of a period of one year), you have the assurance that the beneficiaries of your contract will receive 100 000€ you have placed on the CPU, in a single or in several times, even if, at the time of recover the capital that you desired their leave, the latter is more than 80 000€ for example!

According to the contracts, it is possible to find different warranties flooring : simple or indexed, with effect ratchet (the floor is then equal to the highest value reached by the contract) or, more rare, plus (the amount of the death benefit is known in advance).

A guarantee is often optional

According to the insurers, and the generations of contracts, you can be confronted with three cases of figure little something to look forward to :

- Your contract does not include any warranty flooring : if you are relatively young, consider opening another contract to extend your investment in UA. Failing that, you can secure more gains on the euro funds.

- Your contract includes a guarantee of a floor, but you have not joined the subscription, and you can't do it : same case as above.

- Your contract provides a guaranteed floor, you have joined the subscription, but have cancelled since : knowing that the decision is irreversible, consider, here, too, one of the two previous strategies.

key to check

If, conversely, you have a guaranteed floor, or automatic optional, as is the case most often, do not rejoice too quickly... again, use different scores, and according to the result obtained, you will be comforted in your choice of contract, you either have to already think about the opportunity to apply for another. Check as well :

- the maximum amount of capital under risk. Some contracts see wide : up to 300 000€ of capital under risk with the contract BforBank Life, up to 760 000€ for the whole contract multi-purpose underwritten by Allianz Life or up to 762 245€ for the whole multi-media held at the MASCF, for example.

others on the contrary have a guaranteed floor very narrow : 20% of the average of the managed savings during the two years preceding the death, within the limit of€ 5,000 only with the contract Actiplus Option of the Macif by example !

- the age up to which the guaranteed floor is operational . It is often 75 years of age (Boursorama Life of Boursorama Bank, Power Future Assurance.com...), but with a contract that is more restrictive, as the RES Multichannel MACSF, the guarantee may stop at age 70.

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- the cost of this guarantee . It is extremely variable. With the Mpt AFER, 0,055% per year is collected in an automatic way, the counter-value of materials in the UC or at the upward as well as downward. Apparently penalizing, this system is not less interesting, because it low-cost : 55€ per year only for 100 000€ invested, for example.

conversely, some optional coverages are expensive and their cost increases with age : 172€ by an at age 65, and 266€ to 70 years for 10 000 euros of capital under risk with the contract Himalia (Generali Life) for example !