What to do with my scattered small pensions?

A question that occurs more and more frequently, because people change jobs more than in earlier times and work fewer years with an employer. The result is that people often end up with several small pensions.
What are small pensions then? These are pensions accrued with former employers with benefits at retirement age between € 2.00 and € 497.27 (2019) gross per year.
Until 1 January 2019, such pensions were often surrendered by pension funds. Depending on, among other things, age and life expectancy, this yielded approximately 17 times the gross accrued annual pension amount for a 50-year-old. Still difficult to say no, not realizing that you still have at least 20 years to go on retirement date, the surviving dependents’ pension is also bought off at the same time and I have not even talked about indexation.
If that surrender is paid out, the annual income increases extra. As a result, surcharges (toeslagen) can be canceled. You have to take that into account when considering whether you agree with that surrender.
But from the beginning of 2019 new legislation applies whereby old small pensions (from € 2.00 gross per year) are taken to the pension fund of a new employer. Of course, that is subject to conditions, but a phone call to your new pension fund, or googling can quickly make you wiser.
I think this is a very good development in the pension world.
This prevents people from opting out of their retirement money before their retirement date, often at a higher tax rate than from that retirement age.
Enjoying life is of course very important, but then with a slanted eye to tomorrow.