3 Unexpected Sources of Retirement Income | Smart Change: Personal Finance

But those aren’t the only ways to fund your retirement. Here are three lesser-known sources of retirement income you may want to add to your financial plan.

Certain stocks pay dividends to shareholders periodically, usually once per quarter. You may only get a few dollars per share that you own, but if you have a large investment portfolio, these dividends can add up over time.

If you have a $500,000 portfolio that has a 3% overall dividend yield, that means you’ll earn about $15,000 per year in dividends alone. That can go a long way toward covering your retirement expenses, and it may help you stretch your personal savings even further.

You can invest in individual dividend-paying stocks if you’d like. But it might be easier to look for a dividend index fund. These give you instant ownership in many dividend stocks. Spreading your money between multiple companies like this is smart because if a few of your stocks have to cut their dividends during difficult times, you’ll have others to pick up the slack.

You can stash savings in a health savings account (HSA) if you have a high-deductible health insurance plan….