Usually July will always be my high month for dividends each year as it’s the only month where all of the ETFs pay out but it didn’t happen this year. In July 2025 I received $340 in dividends which was an all time high and this year in 2026 I received $310 in July. I was disappointed as I didn’t think I would improve on the $340 high this year.
October has most of the ETFs paying dividends except for three (GEAR, NDQ, ATEC) and they’re all low paying so there was always a chance of there being another high but I just didn’t expect it.
I was estimating it would be just over $300 for October but on the 30th of the month JPEQ paid me a second dividend of $87.15 which pushed the total to $397.39 or about sixteen percent higher than the previous high in July 2025!!
Excuse my French, but F#ck yes! I’m very happy with that result.
I still have no idea why JPEQ sent out two payments in October and I don’t really care right now, I’m just glad that they did. I might be complaining next month when they don’t send out any dividend! We shall see how it all plays out.
ETF Dividend Income in October
It was the monthly and quarterly paying stocks in October and like I said above, it was an all time dividend high for the ETF portfolio.
JPEQ paid out twice for reasons I do not know $174.34, HYLD sent me $5.60, QQQI broke the run of the three $77 payments to give me $82.00, SCHD paid $24.01 in dividends, IVV coughed up $13.00, VHY blessed my bank account with $84.09, VGS came good with $7.18, and OVL paid out $7.17, which is a total of $397.39 for the month of October.
This time last year the portfolio made $235.69 in dividends for the month of October which is a 68% increase YoY (year on year). I’m exactly $422.88 ahead for the total dividends paid in the 2026 calendar year compared to the same time in 2025. I was hoping to be at least $2,000 ahead for the year but it looks like I’ll have to be content with being $500 ahead if November and December are decent months.
The rolling 6 month, monthly dividend payment was $200.01 last month. It has increased to $227.63. A few more $20+ increases would be nice.
The ETF Dividend Portfolio for October
This month the ETF dividend portfolio has increased to $45,783 up from $45,377 in September which is an increase of about $406. New contributions were $1,145.29, which means that the portfolio would have decreased by roughly $739 if I didn’t add any new money.
I added 4 shares to JEPQ (listed as JPEQ in Australia), added $33.13 to HYLD, invested $63.68 into NDQ, VHY from Vanguard received $169.04, $314.88 worth of QQQI shares, and bought $321.47 worth of OVL (US listed S&P500 Options 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 October 2026..
See the ETF Dividend Portfolio from September.
What to Expect in November
I’ll be adding roughly 5 shares of JPEQ like usual. Lately I have been making sure that before the ex-dividend date of JPEQ I have 5 more shares than the previous month. I like to create lots of little habits like this to motivate me along the way.
I’ll also probably add to the other monthly dividend paying ETFs: HYLD in Australia and QQQI + OVL in the United States.
I might also add something small to VHY or VGS as I want to start contributing funds to the Vanguard ETFs every month. Sometimes I forget about them and neglect them a bit. Vanguard charges zero brokerage so I can afford to purchase very small lots of shares.
How has your freedom making machine been going this 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 October
Total Index Funds portfolio value (VHY, VGS, GEAR, JPEQ, QQQI, SCHD, NDQ, ATEC, HYLD, OVL and IVV): $45,787 up from $45,377.
Most recent dividend payment (October): $397.39 up from $199.90 in September (Monthly and quarterly dividends from JPEQ, QQQI, HYLD, VHY, SCHD, IVV, OVL, and VGS)
Dividends paid in October 2025: $235.69 which is a 68% Increase YoY (Year on Year)
6 Month Dividends Monthly Average: $227.63 up from $200.01 last month
Dividends paid in 2026: $2,174.72 (this time last year it was $1,751.84)
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: $4,645.95
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