Well, that is 2025 done and dusted. I hope your year was a good one and may next year be a better one.
It has been a great year for the ETF dividend portfolio as the first BIG goal has been achieved!!
Back in December 2023 I set the goal of making $2,000 per year in dividends from Exchange Traded Funds. I cut it fine in the end but I made it with $2,040.09 worth of dividends for the calendar year of 2025! That’s a 181% increase on the $725 made in 2024, so I’m super happy with the progress of the ETF portfolio and I’ll now focus on the second BIG goal, which is $2,000 per month in dividends.
ETF Dividend Payments in December
December was the monthly paying stocks and the quarterly paying SCHD. I wasn’t certain that I would receive the SCHD payment in December though as my broker takes so long to pay out international dividends. In the end it didn’t really matter as I would have achieved my $2,000 goal with or without SCHD.
JPEQ paid out $59.58, FEPI distributed $44.81, HYLD sent out $2.26, SCHD came good with $19.72, and QQQI gave me $35.71, which is a total of $162.08 for the month of December.
This time last year the portfolio made $91.51 in dividends for the month of December which is a 77% increase YoY (year on year).
The rolling 6 month, monthly dividend payment was $189.87 last month. It has increased by $2.36 per month to $192.23. Again, that’s a very small increase but I’m happy it’s not a decrease like it was in October. My goal is to always increase the monthly average by $10 or more but any gain is a good gain.
The ETF Dividend Portfolio for December
This month the ETF dividend portfolio has increased to $35,438 up from $34,424 in November which is an increase of about $1,014. New contributions were larger than usual with $1,327.60 added, which means that the portfolio would have went backwards by about $313 if I didn’t add any new money. So there was definitely no Santa rally for me this year!
I added 3 shares to JEPQ (listed as JPEQ in Australia), increased QQQI with $248.46, bought 212.01 worth of FEPI, added $61.90 to HYLD, $250.51 towards SCHD, $315.28 added to VHY, and bought $51.84 worth of ATEC (Australian technology ETF).
Just as a note, the ticker symbols ending in .AX are Australian listed ETFs and those without them are US listed ETFs. The US listed prices and average cost per share are in US dollars but everything else like market value and total dividend income are in Australian dollars.
Here’s what the ETF portfolio looked like at the end of December 2025…
See the ETF Dividend Portfolio from November.
What to Expect in January
I don’t have any particular focus in January but I won’t be adding as much money as I did in December. I’m always adding as much as I can but it’ll probably be closer to $500 than $1,300 this month.
Monthlies and the two holdings below $1,000 (ATEC and HYLD) will probably be on my shopping list.
How did your freedom making machine go for the year? What’s your 6 month rolling monthly dividend average for your ETFs? (total dividends paid over the last 6 months, divided by 6 equals your average).
Total ETF + REIT + Managed Funds Portfolio for December
Total Index Funds portfolio value (VHY, VGS, GEAR, JPEQ, FEPI, QQQI, SCHD, NDQ, ATEC, HYLD and IVV): $35,438 up from $34,424.
Most recent dividend payment (December): $162.08 up from $126.17 in November (Monthly and quarterly dividends from SCHD, JPEQ, FEPI, HYLD, and QQQI)
Dividends paid in December 2024: $91.51 which is a 77% Increase YoY (Year on Year)
6 Month Dividends Monthly Average: $192.23 up from $189.87 last month
Dividends paid in 2025: $2,040.09 (181% increase)
Dividends paid in 2024: $725.85 (606% increase)
All dividends paid in 2023: $102.68
All ETF dividend payments since starting the ETF portfolio: $2,868.62
ETF Dividends Goal 1: $2,000+ per year.
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