I think it makes a lot of sense to invest in ASX shares for retirement because of the requirement for a flow of income and the need for our nest egg to potentially last decades.

Retirement is an important phase in life to get right because retirees typically no longer add new funds to their balance. In my view, it's not the time to take massive risks when investing.

So, I'm going to talk about two compelling ASX shares that could provide a compelling combination of dividend income and longevity for retirement investing.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is one of the larger real estate investment trusts (REITs) on the ASX with a diversified property portfolio across telecommunications exchanges, agri-logistics, offices with government tenants, distribution warehouses, pubs and bottle shops, service stations, waste and recycling management, banking and various other sectors.

What links them together is that they are all on long rental contracts, which gives the ASX share's investors a lot of visibility and security regarding rental income.

According to the REIT, at June 2024, it had a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 10.5 years and an occupancy rate of 99.9%.

Its portfolio has rental income growth built in, with some tenants on fixed annual increases and others on inflation-linked rises. The weighted average rental review (WARR) was 4.3% in FY24, which is a solid growth rate in my view and can help fund distribution growth and capital growth over the long term once interest rates start coming down.

The higher interest rate environment has impacted commercial property values, which explains why the share price is down 25% since April 2022, as shown on the chart below. But with predictions that RBA interest rate cuts could be just months away, this could be a good time to look at this diversified property play. This lower price has pushed up the potential passive income for retirees.

It's expecting to pay a distribution per security of 25 cents in FY25, which translates into a forward distribution yield of 6.2%. This is noticeably better than what term deposits are paying right now.

MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF)

I don't normally write about listed investment companies (LICs), but I think MFF is worth mentioning. It recently announced it was going to acquire Montaka Global, a funds management business, which means MFF will have an operating business.

The acquisition of Montaka gives MFF a growth avenue if its funds under management (FUM) and funds management profit rises over time.

MFF said:

MFF considers that broadening its research team, expanding its research capabilities, better using research technology and being open to opportunities in addition to its existing portfolio "winners", will be a successful adaptation and likely increase the probability of achieving satisfactory returns over the medium and longer terms.

I think there are plenty of benefits to this move, aside from just the potential earnings from Montaka's funds management business. It reduces reliance on the stock-picking skills of MFF's leader, Chris Mackay, if he decides to retire. Additionally, having more highly skilled investors within MFF could lead to stronger diversification of the MFF portfolio and, hopefully, better-performing returns.

MFF has delivered total shareholder returns (TSR) of an average of 13% over the past decade, according to CMC Markets. We don't know what the future returns will be, but MFF has a high-quality portfolio focused on advantaged global businesses such as Alphabet, Amazon, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Meta Platforms, Bank of America, Home Depot and Microsoft.

The ASX share has provided guidance that its half-year dividend will increase to 8 cents per share at the next interim result. That translates into an annualised grossed-up dividend yield of 5.9%. I think that's a good yield for Aussies in retirement.