I don't know what more to say. You say you want to learn how this works, but you are making some false assumptions, yet don't want to use charts and graphs to prove anything?
Sometimes things appear logical on the surface, or maybe even after digging a bit, but don't hold up under further scrutiny. It happens to me, and it is always a head-scratcher until the light comes on.
No offense, and of course you can do as you please (and I've never 'objected' to anyone deciding to use high-div payers, and they'll probably do fine, I only object to them assigning false attributes to them), but that comes across as
"I've made up my mind, don't confuse me with the facts"?
If you really want to learn, go back to my $48 + $2 = $50 thought process. There is no meaningful difference between you selling $2 worth of the stock, and the company "selling" you a $2 dividend, which comes out of their stock price. It's not coincidence that they refer to it as "buying the dividend" You buy it and they sell it.
Until you understand this, you will be stuck in a
"but, but, but, with a low div portfolio I'm selling" non-helpful, false paradigm.
And I already did the work for you (for me actually) - review post #49. I added 4% inflation adjusted withdrawals, and the charts show that VTI (Total Market) still beat the high div payer funds/ETFs - even with the requirement to sell to make the withdrawals during the monster 2008-2009 drop.
Isn't that the 'proof' you are looking for (or the best we can do with an unknown future)? Selling even into this historic downturn didn't hurt VTI, and the divs didn't help the high-div-payer funds.
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/dividend-paying-stocks-90316.html#post2000116
It's all there. If someone can
show where I'm going off the rails (and maybe I am?), rather than just say that they believe div-payers have these powers, I'm all eyes & ears.
Hope that helps, I think I'm out explanations and examples.
-ERD50