The solidarity allowance for the elderly (ASPA) guarantees a minimum income for retirees with low resources. Its calculation is not limited to the pensions received: money placed in savings accounts, term accounts, or life insurance contracts is also included in the assessment. The pension fund does not only look at what you receive each month; it also examines what you hold.
Fictional income on savings: the mechanism that traps ASPA applicants
The least understood point in the calculation of ASPA concerns the notion of fictional income. Even if you do not withdraw anything from your Livret A or your life insurance, the pension fund considers that your capital generates a theoretical return. This return is added to your other resources to determine if you exceed the ceiling.
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In practical terms, the invested capital is converted into fictional annual income of 3% of its value. A savings account showing a balance of 10,000 euros will therefore be counted as generating 300 euros per year in income, regardless of whether the actual interest is lower or not. This flat rate applies to movable assets: bank savings accounts, term accounts, savings plans, life insurance contracts.
This mechanism has a direct consequence: a person whose pensions are very low but who maintains significant precautionary savings may see their ASPA reduced or even eliminated. The question of ASPA in relation to invested money then arises with particular acuity for those who hesitate between maintaining a safety cushion and maximizing their allowance.
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The 3% rate does not correspond to the actual return of most regulated savings accounts. The gap between fictional return and actual return penalizes small savers who keep a few thousand euros out of caution.
ASPA resource ceilings for 2026 and savings thresholds to watch
The resource ceilings for ASPA in 2026 are set at 1,043.59 euros gross per month for a single person and 1,620.18 euros per month for a couple. The allowance is differential: it complements your resources up to these ceilings, without exceeding them.
To assess the impact of your savings, you must add your basic pensions, supplementary pensions, survivor pensions, any professional income (with deductions beyond certain quarterly thresholds), and then add the fictional income derived from your movable assets.
- Pensions from all schemes are fully taken into account, including Agirc-Arrco supplementary pensions.
- Income from real estate (rents received or estimated rental value of an unoccupied property) is also included in the calculation, according to rules distinct from movable savings.
- Family benefits, the personalized autonomy allowance (APA), and housing assistance are not included in the calculation.
- The actual interest earned on savings is not considered as such: it is the capital held that serves as the basis, via the fictional rate.
When the total of all these resources exceeds the monthly ceiling, the ASPA is reduced accordingly. If the excess absorbs the entire allowance, no payment is made.
FICOBA control and cross-referencing of banking data
The CNAV and other pension funds do not rely solely on the applicant’s declarations. The FICOBA file lists all bank accounts opened in France, and the funds have access to it during the processing of ASPA applications. This cross-referencing allows for the identification of undeclared capital in savings accounts, checking accounts, or financial contracts.
An applicant who fails to declare a savings account or a life insurance contract is exposed to a recovery of overpayment. The fund then recalculates the rights for the relevant period and requests the reimbursement of the amounts paid in excess. Controls can occur at any time, not only during the initial application.
Donations and divestment of assets
Giving your savings to your children or grandchildren before applying for ASPA does not eliminate the problem. Donations made in the ten years preceding the application are still included in the calculation of resources. The fund applies a fictional income on the amounts donated, as if they were still held by the applicant.
This anti-abuse rule aims to prevent the artificial organization of insolvency. It concerns cash donations, but also real estate transferred free of charge. The ten-year period is applied strictly.
Precautionary money or assets: where the administration draws the line
The regulations do not make a formal distinction between a precautionary savings account of a few hundred euros and a life insurance portfolio of several tens of thousands of euros. The fictional rate of 3% applies uniformly to all declared movable assets.
In practice, a modest balance on a Livret A generates a fictional income too low to significantly affect the amount of ASPA. However, capital spread across several accounts (Livret A, sustainable development savings account, life insurance, retirement savings plan) can, once combined, generate a fictional income that reduces the allowance by several tens of euros per month.
The safest declaration strategy is to be exhaustive rather than selective. Declaring all your assets avoids the risk of a FICOBA control leading to a recovery of overpayment, with a reimbursement obligation sometimes extending over several years. Field reports show that regularizations are more frequent on life insurance contracts, whose balances do not always appear on standard bank statements.
Recovery on inheritance and final calculation
ASPA is recoverable from the beneficiary’s estate. In 2026, the recovery applies to the portion of the net estate exceeding a regulatory threshold. This mechanism deters some potential applicants who prefer to forgo the allowance to preserve an inheritance, even a modest one.
This inheritance dimension directly influences the question of savings. Keeping capital to pass on while receiving ASPA amounts to shifting part of the burden onto the heirs, as the fund will recover the amounts paid after death. Renouncing ASPA to protect savings with a low actual return does not always make financial sense, but it involves a personal choice that the available data cannot resolve on behalf of the applicant.