You might be fortunate if your company has a pension plan that you can participate in during your employment. Otherwise, you will have to begin a private pension. 

There are a few ways you can begin a private pension:

You can buy an immediate annuity.

You basically hand over a huge lump sum of money today to an insurance company who will use that money to invest. Essentially you are lending them your money but at a very low cost and the insurance companies use that contribution to invest. They will then write you a check monthly. Depending on your plan, you might receive your first check within one year and for as few as five years or a lifetime. However, this annuity will not outlive you. If you die tomorrow, the insurance company is not obligated to write any check. This option might be a great fit for you if you are risk-averse and can afford to give up a lump sum of cash in the present day. But if you do have enough for monthly expenses for the next couple of years, using that lump sum of cash to do your own private investment might be a more lucrative option.

You can build an investment portfolio based on dividends.

You may already be aware that not all publicly traded companies pay out dividends because they are not required to do so according to the law. However, they are companies that do pay out dividends quarterly because they want to attract investors. While there are companies that payout consistently, others do not so you should not assume dividends payment day as a recurring event. You should study their past 5-year history and do your own evaluation. You should also learn the difference between common and preferred shares. If this is too much work for you, hiring a professional financial advisor is totally worth your money. Professional financial advisors would have access to financial packages or plans that are tailored for specific needs. It is amazing today that they can easily build a plan for you using basic information such as how much you wish to withdraw monthly in your retirement, your life expectancy, etc. You will have to pay some commission but you know for sure your retirement will be highly safe. Though you should consider starting this as early as possible so you can build your portfolio.

Possibly consider diversifying your investments.

This means do not own just equity but also pick up some bonds and alternatives (e.g. real estate, private equity, etc). Government bonds are generally safe unless they are issued by economically unstable countries like Argentina. Treasury bonds issued by the U.S. government are generally AAA rated so they are safe investments. Getting into alternative investments like real estate is a smart move. If you have an apartment complex, that surely will generate you fixed incomes through collected rent. If you do not have the capital to invest in a building, you can seek investments from family or friends, or banks. You can even take a reverse mortgage on it later on if you wish for your heirs to inherit.