A few years ago, my wife and I looked at our meagre pension schemes, and took what we thought at the time were some pretty radical steps to do sometime about it. Steps that even Mr Brown cannot argue with nor worry us too much with tax!OK, he changed his mind on how we were going to be able to buy properties through our SIPP (Self Investing Pension Plan) with one of the most spectacular U -Turns in this government?s history. After all, Mr Brown must have thought ?Oh dear me, this is going to help poor pensioners! I can?t have that!?So with that in mind, if you are looking to bolster up your pension funds to something approaching almost decent, rather than the pathetic apology most of us have coming, or perhaps even looking to pack in the ‘Day Job’, and even going for full financial independence, this may well be the most important article you have ever read….Two life-long friends met up after several years without seeing each other at a Home Business Opportunity exhibition in London. Talk naturally moved towards what they hoped to achieve from their visit. They both enjoyed fairly good lifestyles, drove nice cars, had comfortable homes, wives who appreciated good shopping adventures, several grandchildren, and both liked taking several expensive overseas holidays every year.They then started to discuss why they had come to this exhibition, and what their hopes and dreams were. With the poor performance of their pension plans, and extra poor performance of their endowment policies - both due to poor stock market performance, they were both concerned that come retirement age, their most enjoyable lifestyles would have to come to an end.Without some serious changes to their financial situation, on their enforced age retirement, there was a high possibility that they would have to sell their houses, and buy or rent something smaller, cut right back on holidays, have to get a cheaper smaller car, cut out the expensive holidays and shopping trips for the wives, and may not even afford to visit the grandchildren as often as they wanted ? even though they would have more time on their hands.They had both come to the exhibition with a view to identifying multiple incomes streams that they could use to supplement or even replace their present incomes, so that they could choose when exactly they left the day job, quietly confident that their lifestyle could go on uninterrupted, or even better.Recently, the two friends met up in London at another Trade Show. They are both still happily married, are fit and healthy, but one still has the day job with the pathetic pension prospects, while the other has already given up his day job, has a brand new car, has over ??300,000 in his SIPP (Self Investment Pension Plan) and was now working around 8 ? 10 hours a week from his home ? which had just had a new study built on, and had a number of residual incomes coming in from various real estate projects.