Perhaps while you're reading this, you're on a packed train on the way home from work. Or maybe you're staying back at the office late in order to miss the peak hour traffic which seems to take away so many hours from each of our days.
Sound familiar? It's times like these where the prospect of retirement must surely cross your mind. The very idea of being able to do what you want, when you want without the limitations of your 9 to 5 commitment. Given this weather (I'm writing this from Melbourne where it is overcast and just 15 degrees), I'm also wishing I was up on the Gold Coast, or somewhere else a little more tropical.
Well, retirement would be nice, but of course there are other factors that we also need to consider. For instance, you want to be able to sleep at night knowing your investments are safe while you're also going to need a steady and reliable income to live off.
Here are three stocks which you could comfortably retire on…
As far as safety and income go, Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) is your best bet. Australia's most dominant telco lifted its legendary interim dividend for the first time in eight years and now offers a trailing 5.4% fully franked dividend yield! You'd be doing well to find much better than that. To make the stock even more appealing however, the company recently announced that it hopes to generate at least one third of its revenue from Asia by 2020. If it can capitalise on these plans, the stock could be worth a whole lot more than today's $5.36 price tag.
Australia's second largest company by market capitalisation, BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), is another solid bet for your retirement dollars. Although the stock hasn't had the best record in recent times due to the declining iron ore price, it still holds good prospects for the long term! Yielding 3.4% (fully franked, of course), BHP Billiton has exposure to the coal and potash industries which are both expected to soar in demand over the coming decades as the global population skyrockets.
Last but not least, Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) is another safe bet. The global packaging company has been an extremely consistent performer over the last five years (its shares fell considerably in December although that was due to its split with Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA)) and is set to benefit from a declining Australian dollar as well as growth in emerging economies throughout Asia. Amcor is amongst Australia's largest companies with a market cap of $12.8 billion and offers a very generous 3.8% dividend yield, which is not to be sneezed at.
An ASX stock primed for serious growth
Despite sounding perfect, the idea of retiring can also be quite scary if you're worried you might not have enough saved. Luckily for you, The Motley Fool has identified another company which could easily double your money over the coming years which might make that retirement decision a little easier to make…
