The ideal stocks for retirement are stable and low-risk shares that also pay a dividend — ideally, every month. I have a list of three stocks that meet these criteria, and all pay monthly dividends at an annual rate of over 4%. All of the companies listed here also have the potential to grow sales and dividends, allowing you to collect a good monthly dividend and potentially cash in on increasing stock prices.

Shaw Communications Inc.  (TSX:SJR.B)(NYSE:SJR) is a telecom giant with a very stable future. It currently pays a monthly dividend of over 4% per year. Although it has been over two years since its last dividend increase, there is a potential for payouts to grow, and it may even be overdue for a hike. The stock also provides investors with opportunities for growth with the share price appreciating 38% over the past five years.

With Shaw’s recent acquisition of WIND Mobile, the company is showing it wants to be a competitor in the wireless industry as well, where it can grow and diversify its revenue. Shaw has not had any problems with posting profits, and its most recent quarter also saw a year-over-year revenue growth of just under 3%.

Shaw presents a good long-term investment that you can buy and forget.

Smart REIT  (TSX:SRU.UN) is a great real estate investment trust that you can invest in because, along with its high occupancy rate of 98%, it also has a big tenant like Wal-Mart anchoring most locations, which provides a lot of stability. Smart also offers a very attractive dividend of over 5% per year that is paid out in monthly installments. The stock has not seen a dividend increase this year, but it has increased the dividend in each of the past three years, and the payout has grown by almost 10% during that time.

Smart REIT had over $725 million in revenue in its last fiscal year, which was up 27% from three years ago. The company has seen good growth over the years, and it should be able to continue to build on that. Although the share price is down over 5% year to date, it may present a good opportunity to buy the stock at a low.

Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust  (TSX:AAR.UN) is another REIT stock, but this one has more of a focus on industrial properties. This stock also provides a good dividend yield of about 4.7% which is paid out on a monthly basis. The dividend has not seen an increase in recent years and may not see an increase for some time, but at a reasonably high yield, Pure Industrial can still provide an attractive source of monthly income.

In addition, Pure Industrial offers good growth prospects with revenues of $108 million in 2013 growing to almost $187 million this past fiscal year for an increase of over 70% in just three years. In its most recent quarter, the company continued to see strong sales growth as revenues reached $55 million, which are up 21% from a year ago. The stock has also seen strong growth with share price increasing by 30% in the past five years and over 22% in just the last 12 months.