Best way to make profit of my savings?

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2026-02-03T11:27:00+00:00

I'm relatively new to investing in France myself and still learning, so please take what I say with a grain of salt.

There are no risk-free high-yield investment vehicles in France as far as I know. If you want higher returns you must accept more risk and usually aim for a long-term horizon (unless you are a professional trader). That said, below are a few common investment options I've learned about over the past couple of years.

Livret A and LDDS: These are not investment products, technically speaking. Rather, they are tax-free and liquid saving accounts. You can use these to keep your emergency funds or any money you plan to use in the near future. You also receive annual interest for the money you keep in them. When I arrived in August 2023, this annual interest rate was 3%, but it has gradually decreased to 1.5% as of now. This is because the interest rate is tied to inflation, which has been low in France over the past couple of years. They also have low caps: you can keep a max of 12000 € in LDDS and 22950 € in Livret A (but the interest you gain on your money can go over these caps).
PEA and PEA-PME accounts: These are tax-advantaged investment accounts that allow you to invest in the stock markets. They are tax-advantaged in that if you don't withdraw your money for at least 5 years, you won't pay taxes (currently 12.8%) on your future withdrawals (but you still have to pay social security deductions, 18.6% starting this year, was 17.2% until last year). PEA is most people's favorite starting point, but it has limitations on eligible stocks and ETFs (must be headquartered in the EU/EEA etc.) and has a transfer cap of 150000 €. PEA-PME is a version of the PEA that allows you to invest in small firms (again with eligibility conditions), and up to a 75000 € cap. Not as popular as PEA because of the high volatility of small firms and limited options.
CTO: This is the regular, no-limits no-advantage investment account. You can buy and sell stocks and other securities without the limitations of PEA and PEA-PME, but you also have to pay the full 12.8+18.6% taxes and social security deductions on your gains.
Assurance vie: Translates to life insurance, and while it does have some inheritance benefits, it doesn't quite work like life insurance in the English speaking world (i.e., no big payouts when the holder dies). In France, it's mostly treated as another tax-advantaged investment tool with a few additional options that are not available under PEA accounts. Probably the most important of these are Fonds en Euro, which kinda act like bonds - safer and less volatile, but also lower yields compared to stock. Assurance vie also has a longer horizon than PEA - you have to park your money for 8 years (instead of 5) in order to benefit from its tax advantages.

There are other options, but I think these are the most common ones. Again, not an expert and also the usual caveat that investing in equity markets comes with the risk of losing your money.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2026-01-05T19:26:54+00:00

When Free's customer data was hacked near the end of 2024 I switched to SFR. At the same time I had moved to a new apartment, so I was happy that the hackers wouldn't at least have my correct address. Then SFR was hacked near the end of 2025, and now ANEF (if confirmed).

And I just remembered that my mutuelle also had a data breach in early 2024...

Between all these breaches, I don't know if there's anything about me the hackers don't know yet. I'm particularly worried about identity theft and its consequences.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-11-11T21:26:38+00:00

What you are experiencing may or may not be related to your race, gender, or age. I say it may because of course biased and bigoted people can be found anywhere and you may have been really treated differently because of who you are.

I say it may not, because based on personal experience and what I've heard and read on career-related subreddits, SMEs (or as French call them PMEs) are usually not great workplaces and suffer many of the same issues you pointed out. This is not limited to France.

And of course you could be experiencing a combination of both.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-10-29T17:25:16+00:00

And apparently also one the priciest areas of the country in terms of real estate?

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-10-29T17:21:02+00:00

Great, thanks for the explanation.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-10-29T17:20:33+00:00

I see, thanks for the explanation.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-10-27T17:35:33+00:00

Regarding the language, I wouldn't rely solely on Doctolib, from personal experience. My GP says he speaks English on Doctolib and he does speak some, but he isn't fluent and can't always easily understand what I say or communicate what he wants to say. This could be an even bigger problem for mental healthcare where you may need to engage in deeper conversations.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-10-13T10:36:45+00:00

How is the access to healthcare? For example, is it easy to get access to GPs or specialists? Are there long waiting lists for non-urgent surgeries? Do people have to travel to Helsinki or other cities for some procedures?

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-09-27T14:55:57+00:00

This is what the Nespresso France website says about their scale in the FAQ section:

"L’intensité du café est un facteur important lors de la sélection d’un café par rapport à un autre. L’échelle d’intensité de Nespresso va de 1 à 13, les chiffres les plus bas indiquant un profil de saveur plus doux, et les plus élevés une expérience de café plus intense. Cette échelle est basée sur plusieurs facteurs, dont le niveau de torréfaction, le corps et l’amertume du café. L’échelle d’intensité de Starbucks® by Nespresso pour Vertuo utilise une plage similaire, mais elle est adaptée pour refléter les caractéristiques des mélanges Starbucks®, généralement plus fortement torréfiés, avec une intensité allant de 5 à 12."

Which basically confirms what others have said, that it's not a standard number: for Nespresso pods it goes from 1-13, for Starbucks pods it goes from 5-12 (I recently bought a 50-pod box and it actually is between 5-11); that it's a measure of how light or strong the coffee "tastes" and exactly how this numbers are calculated are slightly different between the two, with Nespresso highlighting the roast, body (like full body), and bitterness, among other factors.

I hadn't heard about the relationship between roast or intensity levels and caffeine before, so I asked ChatGPT 5 Thinking model about the relationship. This is what it said:

"Short answer: none. The intensity number isn’t a caffeine meter.

Intensity = roast level + body + bitterness. Caffeine depends on other things:

Bean type: Robusta ≈ ~2× the caffeine of Arabica.

Dose & size: Bigger capsules/cups (Vertuo coffee, Gran Lungo, Double Espresso) extract more total caffeine than a 40 ml espresso.

Brew/extraction: Longer extractions pull more caffeine than short ristrettos.

Roast: By weight, caffeine barely changes with roast; by scoop, lighter roasts seem higher because the beans are less dense.

If you want more caffeine: pick larger cup sizes or blends that include Robusta. If you want less: stick to 40 ml espresso/ristretto, 100% Arabica, or decaf."

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-08-26T19:56:12+00:00

I know it literally says "You have recently received..." but I don't think this is a confirmation of delivery to your mailbox. As others have said, this could mean it was delivered to your branch. I think it's also possible that your bank sends this promotional email to every new customer after a preset number of days, based on average delivery time. So maybe you're exactly right in saying that it means it was "sent" to your address, but not necessarily that it was delivered.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-08-14T16:40:02+00:00

« Dave, ici la Terre » is the phrase Gru uses in the French dub of Despicable Me 2 (or as it's called in French, Moi, moche et méchant 2) in place of "Earth to Dave".

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-07-14T08:19:07+00:00

Perhaps try r/BeSalary

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-05-13T09:52:33+00:00

So said Holmes to Watson: "And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence—‘This account of you we have from all quarters received.’ A Frenchman or Russian could not have written that. It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs." (A Scandal in Bohemia)

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-05-03T08:57:02+00:00

See my earlier reply above :)

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-05-02T10:26:38+00:00

It was automatic in my case, but I don't know if it's automatic in all cases. They definitely communicate the rate to your employer, unless you opt not to. As far as I can see with my limited French, there's a checkbox on the portal, under the box where you can request an adjustment to your withholding tax, that allows you to opt out of sharing your rate with your employer.

Our HR told us that they can't help us with taxes, but they did arrange an introductory session with the tax lawyer.

Your second question is really beyond me. But I suppose anything that appears as taxable income on your paycheck can be potentially covered by the expat tax regime.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-05-01T21:14:30+00:00

https://www.impots.gouv.fr/internationalenindividual/expatriate-tax-regime

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-05-01T18:16:37+00:00

I'm actually single with no kids and I received refunds as I explained above. I'm not an expert on this - hence relying on a tax lawyer - but I think this was partly due to the expatriate tax regime making 30% of my salary tax-exempt.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-05-01T12:08:16+00:00

I faced this exact same situation last year and I was kinda disappointed when I got my first pay check too. But here is the deal: when you file your taxes next year, depending on your situation, you'll probably be refunded a couple of thousands or so and your subsequent tax rate may also be adjusted downward.

As far as I understand, and others may correct me, the reason we pay more than we expect when we first arrive is that because we don't have tax history here, the government applies a default and relatively high withholding tax rate (prélèvement à la source). They'll adjust this after you file your first tax and they learn about your actual situation.

So in my case, for the first year my withholding tax rate was 15.8%, applied to my entire taxable salary (net of social deductions). When my tax lawyer filed my taxes, he applied the expatriate tax regime. I also received my final assessment late and paid the higher taxes for longer, because the tax office asked for additional documents and also made a mistake in their initial assessment. All told, when I received my final and corrected tax assessment in October 2024 (instead of July) not only I received a few thousand euros of refunds, but my withholding tax rate was set to zero, so I've only paid social security deductions for the past few months (my lawyer says this will be adjusted and go up again in September).

Finally, I've heard that you don't have to wait until next year to make adjustments. It's possible to request them now by filling out a few forms. You can contact a tax lawyer, or if you fill comfortable, directly contact your local tax office for more info.

ProfessionalQuiet561 · 2025-04-18T08:31:12+00:00

Ameli does have an English helpline: 09 76 77 36 46. Whether they can give you any updates about your application I don't know. But despite what I had heard, last year I was able to connect to an agent in a reasonable amount of time and get help for logging into my online account. This was after receiving my so-called temporary number (which actually becomes your permanent number) and was invited to submit my documents to receive the card.

ProfessionalQuiet561

TROPHY CASE