The story of the creation of personal retirement accounts in Slovakia cannot be told simply by presenting plain facts, irrespective how impressive the quick facts above are.  There are two major reasons for that.  Firstly, the pension reform itself, an otherwise unprecedented achievement needs to be put within a more general framework of a country making from the beginning of the 1990s a very difficult economic, social, and political transition from centrally planned economy, ruled by a communist totalitarian state, towards a democratic society and a market economy.  Secondly, one cannot get a full picture without the personal stories of many individuals whose personal views, thoughts, visions, attitudes, and decisions were of crucial importance in terms of their impact on the overall result. Download (click on the book picture).