In the coming period, pension administrators in the Netherlands will look at whether they can merge about 2 million small pensions. These are small pensions that were created before 2018. Merging will take place automatically. You do not have to do anything. 

You may not simply buy-out

Many little ones make one big one. That is actually the background to the Small Pension Value Transfer Act. This Act came into effect on March 1, 2018. The Act regulates that pension funds must try to merge small pensions into one larger pension. These are pensions of between €2 and about €500 per year.

Pension funds may no longer commute these pensions (they may do so if a participant retires). In this way they remain as a pension for the participant. In this way they retain the purpose for which pension was once intended: a good provision for old age. 

Small pensions created before 2018

Pension funds do try to merge participants' small pensions as much as possible. This happens automatically and you do not have to do anything as a participant. Pension funds that still have a small pension will check with mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl to see if you are already building up a pension somewhere else. Is that the case? If so, the pension fund will try to transfer your pension to the organisation where you are now accruing pension. If a small pension has been transferred for you, you will receive notice of this from the pension administrator where you are currently accruing pension. Are you building up a pension at Mars Pensioenfonds? If so, we will inform you. Are you still accruing pension elsewhere? Or is the transfer unsuccessful? Then your pension will remain where it was. 

All small pensions accrued after 2018 have already been processed in this way. But there are also more than 2 million small pensions that were created before 2018. The transfer of these small pensions has been in progress since April 2021. So that could also be your small pension.