Transferring your pension: why the old arguments no longer apply

A pension transfer means taking your accrued pension from a previous employer to your new pension provider.

The classic arguments for doing so have largely lapsed. You used to transfer because the new provider gave you more certainty, but under the new system everything is invested. And the tidiness argument holds only partly, since the national pension register shows your pots together regardless.

What has appeared is a time-bound consideration running until 1 January 2028 at the latest. That one is worth investigating.

When does this arise?

On changing jobs, and only if you end up with a different provider. Stay in the same sector with a mandatory industry fund and nothing changes; your pension simply continues.

The main rule: you have the right to transfer, without a time limit, and your new provider must cooperate. They may not charge for it.

Do nothing and your old pension simply stays with your old provider, paying out later alongside your other pension. Nothing is lost.

Small pensions transfer automatically

One category requires nothing from you.

If your accrued pension is below €632.63 gross a year (the 2026 commutation threshold), your old provider may transfer it automatically to your new one. That happens without your consent and you can't prevent it.

That automatic transfer applies to small pensions accrued after 1 January 2018. Not every provider uses it, but many do, because administering small pots is relatively expensive.

Two things to know:

Pensions up to €2 gross a year lapse. Since 1 January 2019 those disappear automatically.

Cashing out is largely impossible. A small pension can only be paid out at your pension date, or if automatic transfer failed.

What those small pots are worth

They're called small, and that's misleading. A lifelong payment from sixty-seven is worth more in present value than the annual figure suggests.

And because people often have several:

Five forgotten pots of three hundred euros are worth nearly forty thousand together. Check the national pension register for everything in your name, including from jobs you've forgotten.

The timing window that does matter

Here's why this subject deserves attention right now.

Pension funds are transitioning to the new system in phases, with a final date of 1 January 2028. The peak of transition moments falls on 1 January 2027; by then roughly two thirds of all participants are expected to have moved.

That has two consequences.

Transfers can be temporarily impossible. Transfer between two pension funds only works if both fall under the same statutory rules. If one has moved and the other hasn't, your request is parked until it becomes possible.

You may still submit the request; you'll be told when it can proceed. Meanwhile your pension simply stays where it is.

The buffer allocation hangs on a date. During the transition, a fund's existing reserves are distributed among participants. Transfer before that date and you're no longer a participant at that moment, so you miss the allocation. Transfer afterwards and it's already reflected in your pension.

That can be a substantial amount, and it varies by fund. This is the one argument with a genuine date attached, and precisely the reason to ask your old fund when they're transitioning.

Why the old arguments no longer apply

Three reasons that used to be decisive and no longer are.

"It's more certain with the new provider." Under the old system you could move from a contribution scheme to a defined-benefit scheme, exchanging investment risk for certainty. Under the new system only contribution schemes exist and everything is invested. That argument has gone.

"It's tidier." The national pension register shows all your pots together regardless of who holds them. The overview already exists.

"I'll get a higher payment." Under the old system, moving from a poorly funded scheme to a well-funded one could pay off. Under the new system it's about your personal pension capital, and the question becomes where that capital performs best.

That last point isn't nothing. On a €50,000 transfer across twenty years:

The gap between three and five percent is €42,359. But you can't know that gap in advance, and you don't choose your provider: it comes with your employer.

What you should weigh instead

Five questions that still matter.

When do both funds transition? That determines whether transfer is possible now, and whether you capture or miss the buffer allocation. One phone call to each provider.

What happens to your survivor's pension? This is the point most often missed. On transfer the value of an accrued partner's pension moves with you, but under the new system partner's pension is insurance rather than accrual. How that works out for you is in the article on survivor's pension, and it's worth asking about explicitly.

How old are you? Under forty you've usually accrued little and a better scheme outweighs the transfer risk. With substantial accrual, weigh more carefully.

Are you in the age group that needs extra care? Anyone between forty and fifty-five changing jobs in these years deserves particular attention. With the averaging system disappearing, the automatic redistribution that previously compensated this group falls away.

Request quotes from both providers. You're entitled to a statement showing what your old pension is worth in the new scheme. Base your decision on that rather than on a feeling.

One warning pension advisers actively give: the standardised proposals providers generate automatically don't always account for the consequences of the system transition. Read them with that question in mind.

What if you do nothing?

A legitimate choice, and often the right one.

Your old pension stays with your old provider, grows with that fund's results, and pays out later alongside your other pension. You'll receive several payments rather than one.

The practical drawbacks are limited: some administration, and several parties needing to keep you informed. Do make sure each provider has your current address and email, and use a private email rather than your work address. That small step prevents a lot of hassle.

How Gylder fits in

Your accrued pension isn't wealth you can reach, so it doesn't appear in your wealth overview. That's deliberate, for the same reason the statistics office excludes it: it's a future income stream, not an asset.

What does matter is what eventually arrives from your pension date, because that determines how much you must bridge yourself. You get that figure from the national pension register and enter it in the bridge calculator.

Whether you consolidate your pots or leave them barely changes that figure. What it does change is how easily you can look it up, and that's the honest reason to do it.

What this doesn't tell you

The threshold is set annually. In 2026 it's €632.63 gross a year. Check the current amount.

Funds transition at different moments. What applies to you depends on both providers, and that information must come from them.

Buffer allocation varies by fund. How much it matters can't be stated generally.

This isn't advice. With a substantially accrued pension, a one-off calculation by someone with no stake in the outcome is money well spent.

Frequently asked questions

What is a pension transfer? Taking your accrued pension from a previous employer to your new provider. You're entitled to it, without a time limit and without cost.

Is transferring sensible? The classic arguments have largely lapsed under the new system. What counts now is the timing of both funds' transitions, and what happens to your survivor's pension.

What is a small pension? A pension between €2.01 and €632.63 gross a year in 2026. Those are often transferred automatically without any action from you.

Can I cash out my small pension? Only at your pension date, or if automatic transfer failed. Interim commutation has been largely impossible since 2019.

Why is my transfer taking so long? Probably because one of the two funds has moved to the new system and the other hasn't. Transfer is then temporarily impossible, and you'll be told when it can resume.

What if I do nothing? Your old pension stays where it is and pays out later from several pots. Nothing is lost.