I think there are some ASX shares that are great options to buy for rock solid retirement income.
As we've seen this year and over the past few years, businesses like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) have cut their dividends to shareholders.
There are less popular names that have been much more reliable for dividend income. Here are two ASX share ideas for rock solid income:
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
Soul Patts is one of the best ASX dividend shares in my opinion. It certainly doesn't offer the biggest yield, but in terms of reliability I think it's the clear leader.
It has grown its dividend every year for the past two decades, including through COVID-19. That's the most reliable growth record on the ASX.
One of the main reasons why it has done so well is its diversification. It owns a variety of different businesses and assets in its portfolio such as TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW), Bki Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI) and Milton Corporation Limited (ASX: MLT).
Soul Patts funds its dividend purely from the cashflow (dividends and distributions) from its investments, after paying for its expenses. In FY20 it only paid out 57% of its net cashflow as dividends to shareholders. That means 43% of the cashflow can be invested into other opportunities to increase FY21's cashflow.
Not only can Soul Patts grow its dividend from its re-invested capital, but its underlying holdings of ASX shares will also hopefully grow their dividends.
Holdings like Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV), Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) are attractive long-term dividend growth ideas.
I also like that Soul Patts is trying to generate growing profit from good unlisted investments like agriculture, swimming schools, resources and Ampcontrol.
At the Soul Patts share price it offers a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.6%.
Australian United Investment Company Ltd (ASX: AUI)
Australian United Investment (AUI) is a listed investment company (LIC). It was founded in 1953 by the late Sir Ian Potter, and The Ian Potter Foundation Ltd is today the company's largest single shareholder.
It invests in many of Australia's biggest ASX shares including CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Transurban, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). But it also has larger weightings to some ASX shares like Diversified United Investment Limited (ASX: DUI), Atlas Arteria Group (ASX: ALX) and Soul Patts which aren't among the biggest 20 shares on the ASX.
Its operating expenses were just 0.12% of the average market value of the portfolio over FY20, which is extremely cheap. The lower the expense ratio of a portfolio investment (like a LIC), the more of the net returns that are left in the hands of shareholders.
AUI has grown or maintained its dividend every year over the past 30 years. That's a very strong record. Very few businesses can point to that level of strength of their dividend payments. Future dividends are not guaranteed to be reliable, but I think it's a good indicator of how AUI likes to operate with regards to dividends.
At the current AUI share price it offers a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.5%. It's trading at a 6% discount to the AUI pre-tax net tangible assets (NTA) per share at 31 August 2020.
Foolish takeaway
Both of these ASX dividend shares have been very reliable over the past two decades. Out of the two I'd prefer to buy Soul Patts because of its higher focus on growth and its wider investment mandate. However, AUI is one of my preferred ways to invest in ASX blue chips.
