I like your thinking. You have divided the year by 12 and are...

I like your thinking. You have divided the year by 12 and are now looking for about 8.3% income from dividends each month.

my income comes in lumps and bumps. It is only in the last year. I have focused on regular income from REITs as my income from other sources evaporates as l move into retirement.

another approach and one I have adopted is to do a comprehensive budget for the next year (my budget actually runs eight years into the future, believe it or not) and I look at this as being my guide. That way I know exactly how much money I should have reserve at the end of each month to carry over lean periods.

budgeting is extremely easy. All you do is take the credit card balance for the last year add 2 to 4% for each month and you have your expenses.

this removes all emotion, you don’t have to think, all you need is the credit card balance. Year after year we say we’re gonna do isn’t that but we don’t. We always spend what we had the previous year.

this method has worked for nearly a decade and as I say I’m using the same budget. doing it this way removes the need to try and smooth by each month. But each to his own and I like your method.

I am anti getting an annuity l think it is fine.

I apply my budget to core group of shares and keep another group as an emergency backup.

cheers