I'm sure plenty of Australians would love the idea of earning $75,000 a year in passive income and being able to retire at 45. I believe investing in ASX shares could be the best way to achieve that goal.
Some Aussies may love to work, while others may want to spend more time with loved ones, travelling or whatever else they want to do.
There are a variety of appealing reasons why reaching $75,000 of annual passive income could be compelling.
Let's look at how we can unlock those targeted goals.
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The power of compounding
Every investor who wants to retire early should view compounding as one of their closest financial friends.
Albert Einstein once supposedly said:
Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn't, pays it.
Compounding can help us benefit from investments that are growing on their own, over multiple years. When interest earns interest, investors can see their dollars grow into a much larger figure. Those investments are growing all by themselves, rather than requiring additional funding from our own finances.
To show how positively compounding can help Australians grow wealthier, I'm going to run through two potential examples.
Imagine someone who is 20 years old right now and manages to set aside $1,000 each month to invest in ASX shares. That implies an annual investment total of $12,000. Assuming the portfolio returns an average of 10% per year – which the share market has done over the long-term – it would grow into a value of $1.18 million after 25 years.
Turning to another example, let's think about someone who starts five years later at 25. Hopefully that person would be able to earn more and save more. Let's say they can invest $1,500 per month. If the portfolio also returned an average of 10% per year, it would grow to $1.03 million after 20 years.
Which ASX shares Aussies could buy for passive income to retire
If I use the two example portfolios above, a $1.18 million portfolio would require a dividend yield of 6.3% to make $75,000 of annual passive income. Meanwhile, a $1.03 million portfolio would require a dividend yield of 7.3%.
Those are certainly high dividend yields to target for income. It may be wise to consider building up the portfolio a bit further (for even just a year or two) before retiring, as that would allow investors to target a wider variety of investments.
If I were targeting dividend yields of more than 6%, or even above 7%, I would want to acknowledge that higher yields can come with a higher risk of being reduced.
But, there are a few names I'd include.
For portfolio average dividend yield that's in the 6.3% or so range, I'd look at names like Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL), PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund Ltd (ASX: PGF), Dexus Industria REIT (ASX: DXI) and MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF).
Some of the names I'd consider thinking of that yield at least 7% or better include Future Generation Australia Ltd (ASX: FGX), Future Generation Global Ltd (ASX: FGG), Hearts and Minds Investments Ltd (ASX: HM1), WCM Global Growth Ltd (ASX: WQG) and Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW).
I believe investors seeking to retire with $75,000 in annual passive income would be well served by the above stocks, as well as other ASX shares that could deliver strong growth.
