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The Polish move comes as a shock because Poland's private pension system was setting an example for other developing countries which planned to reform their pension system. One lesson to draw from the Polish case is to make private pensions voluntary and/or make sure contributions to them do not reduce payment to social security which is the case in Poland. With the benefit of hindsight, Turkey's voluntary private pension system (BES), in its 10th year this month, makes more sense. Although voluntary, as many as 3.9 million people joined BES, equivalent to 40% of 10.5 million social security pensioners. The World Bank model may have to be revised in the light of Polish and Turkish experiences.