Planning for retirement is not easy. Some people will add up a lump sum figure of cash they would need to live on during their retirement years. They may annualize their monthly expenses, then multiple this figure by the number of years they expect to spend in retirement. When adjusted for inflation, this figure can seem astronomical. While living off of a lump sum of cash that you have saved up is one way to plan for retirement, another method involves creating streams of income that you can live off of. Buying the highest dividend paying stocks and living in part off of dividends is one strategy to consider.How Much Can You Earn Off of DividendsIt is entirely possible to live off of dividends. Dividends are typically paid out quarterly, and they can be used as a sole source of income or in conjunction with other sources of income such as Social Security, rental income from real estate investments and more. In order to determine if this is a feasible option for you to consider, you first have to consider how much money you can earn off of dividends. Few people will want to invest all of their cash into a single stock, so determining how much income you can obtain through your stock purchases can be difficult. You may decide to invest in ten or even twenty different stocks in order to minimize risk. With some basic calculations, however, you can do the math and figure out how much income you can generate for yourself now and into the future.Stocks to ConsiderIf your goal is to live off of dividend income, you should pay attention to the highest dividend paying stocks as well as those stocks that have a history of having a stable or generally increasing dividend amount. Consider that companies can decrease or revoke their dividends entirely and without notice. If this happens, you can certainly sell those stocks and buy other stocks. However, you do want to avoid this altogether as it can affect your income. To avoid this, consider those stocks that have a stable dividend history over at least the last decade or so. The more reliable a company's dividend history has been, the more reliable that income source may be for you. Keep in mind that is it best to diversify your income as much as possible in retirement to minimize risk.