Alpha28, you've come to the right place.  Living on dividends without selling shares is the prime focus of most of the folks in this forum. 

At your age of 55 you probably can't withdraw from tax-sheltered savings yet.  One of the best sources of dividends in a taxable portfolio is MLPs.  They pay high and tax-sheltered dividends and tend to be very stable, slow growth businesses. You should read up on these income vehicles.  Most of them pay around 5-7% and the income is mostly not taxable until or unless you sell.  Some that I own are KMP, TPP, APU and ETP.

Your prime focus when selecting stocks for dividend income should be the growth of the dividend.  Over the long retirement run you need income that will grow with inflation.  Selecting stocks with good dividend growth history and prospects will provide that, as well as leading you to the more stable and conservative businesses.

If you plan to use stocks for your income (instead of funds) you will need a dozen or two of them for diversification.  An outstanding source of stock analysis for income purposes is the M* DividedInvestor newsletter, and if you wish to dive deeper and perform you own analysis the newsletter's author, Josh Peters, also has a good book out. 

And, enjoy your retirement!