When you first start investing, you might look for high risk, high reward growth shares. You can do this because if things don't go to plan, you have plenty of time to recover from your losses.
But when you're in retirement or approaching it, investors may be better focusing on income and capital preservation.
With that in mind, listed below are two ASX 200 shares that could be good options for retirees. Here's what you need to know about them:
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Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)
The first ASX 200 dividend share to look at for a retirement portfolio is supermarket giant Coles.
Coles could be a great option in the current environment thanks to its defensive qualities, positive exposure to inflation, and favourable long term growth outlook.
The latter is being underpinned by the company's refreshed strategy, which aims to cut costs through automation and efficiencies. This includes the construction of new distribution centres with automation giant Ocado.
The team at Citi is positive on Coles and has a buy rating and $18.90 price target on its shares.
In respect to dividends, the broker is forecasting fully franked dividends of 72 cents per share in FY 2023 and 77 cents per share in FY 2024. Based on the latest Coles share price of $16.92, this will mean yields of 4.25% and 4.55%, respectively.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Another ASX 200 share that could be a top option for retirees is Telstra.
Much like Coles, it has defensive qualities that could prove valuable in the current environment. In addition, the company's outlook is arguably the most positive it has been in over a decade thanks to the success of the T22 strategy and the new T25 strategy.
The latter is targeting high-teens underlying earnings per share compound annual growth through to FY 2025.
Morgans is a fan of the company and currently has an add rating and $4.60 price target on its shares.
As for dividends, it is forecasting 16.5 cents per share dividend in FY 2023 and FY 2024. Based on the current Telstra share price of $4.05, this equates to a 4.1% dividend yield.
