What do you think of when someone mentions the words pension, retirement or financial independence?  Do thoughts of being old and no longer working come to mind?  Do you think of Social Security and having a check arrive monthly into your bank account?

All of these terms go hand in hand and relate in some form or fashion to a pension – whether it is in the form of a defined benefit plan or a defined contribution.  Without a pension, retirement is not feasible.  One would be working until the day he or she dies.

When we talk about pensions, our focus is on constructing a portfolio that generates the amount of cash flow needed to support your lifestyle (without worrying about the direction of the market).  Our interest in the market is only whether today’s increased market swells will present attractive opportunities.  We are confident that the investments we have made will generate the cash flow we expect and contribute to achieving one’s pension promise.  We are simply waiting for additional opportunities.

You might ask, doesn’t this take a lot of time?  Well, not really time – it just takes patience, access and experience.  If one is patient, has access to the private and public capital market opportunity set, and is experienced with identifying, analyzing and purchasing investments, finding the good opportunities is only a matter of time.  The good news is that while we wait, our portfolios continue clipping coupons, and the cash flow for our clients continue to contribute to the growth of their portfolios.