Balancing dividend income throughout the year

[rayray]

I'm 12-14 years away from retirement--looking at 60 to 62 to hang it up. I'm lucky like fenders with a traditional pension, albeit, a small one but it's something--as we speak there is a cash option or a monthly annuity option. I'll actually be pension eligible at a reduced rate in two years but the amount is so small it's not even worth my effort to crunch the numbers--the most I can do is just look at it, would you look at that....Just look at it...lol...youtube "just look at it" and you'll get it...lol..

Anyways, if available, I will most likely take the cash option on the pension and roll it over into an IRA. The 401k mutual funds (most of them distribute long/short term capital gains and dividends) but they will be re-distributed into mostly dividend paying stocks. I'm not a fan of the funds because when the market is doing well there's really nice distributions and when the market is not doing well there's little to nothing--so--it's like they force you to buy high and bupkis when the market is doing poorly.

I don't factor in SS into any of our calculations--so any of that income will be a bonus. I'm thinking the divi income will suffice, it should, as we speak but who knows? The cash buffer will be a mix of cash and maybe layered CD's that an "x" amount will come due every month.

So, that's the plan unless I'm dead