If you're in your mid to late-50s now, you're looking out over the approach of your retirement in the next 10 years. Some people may keep working into their seventies, but they're not spared from having to prepare for retirement now.
The great thing about share investing is even after you stop working, you can still earn a passive income and benefit from rising share prices as long as you can trade shares.
One famous fund manager, Philip Carret, who started the Pioneer Fund in 1928 in the US, kept going to work and investing until he passed away at 101 in 1998 – 80 years later. Even in your 50s, you could still have decades of investing before you.
That is, if you start now.
I would look for stocks that are steady income payers right now, but having stocks that might become the blue chips of tomorrow could also give you a leg up.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) is the largest ASX-listed oil and gas company and has raised dividends an average annual 14% over the past ten years. Due to the swift fall in world oil prices recently, the stock is down like the other energy producers. Analysts expect the company may reduce dividends if full-year earnings decline. However, Woodside probably will still be in business several decades from now, growing along with the future energy demands of the world. The stock pays a 6.5% yield fully franked.
Challenger Limited (ASX: CGF) has given shareholders an annualised 16% total return over the past five years and pays a decent 3.9% yield partially franked. The company helps clients prepare for their later years and retirement through annuities and investment management. The business is geared toward long-term wealth management, which matches the long-term perspective investors need. You can prepare for your retirement as Challenger's clients prepare for their own.
