Income ETF Portfolio Update

This is the latest I have been so far, but I’m determined not to miss a month so I’m updating my progress even though I’m 24 days late!

I recorded the numbers at the start of the month but I just never got around to doing my Money is Choices blog post.

So here’s what happened with the ETF portfolio..

ETF Dividend Income in March

March was the monthly payers and FEPI paid out an extra payment. I didn’t question why I just added it to the tally.

JPEQ paid out $55.58, FEPI distributed $38.54, HYLD sent out $2.80, QQQI gave me $32.41 and FEPI gave me a special payment of $70.78, which is a total of $200.11 for the month of March.

This time last year the portfolio made $98.94 in dividends for the month of March which is a 102% increase YoY (year on year).

The rolling 6 month, monthly dividend payment was $172.43 last month. It has increased to $183.53. That’s an increase of $11.10 per month which is enough to put a smile on my dial. Every increase is reason to celebrate!

The ETF Dividend Portfolio for March

This month the ETF dividend portfolio has decreased to $34,450 down from $35,143 in February which is a decrease of about $693. New contributions were a very decent $971.80, which means that the portfolio would have went backwards by a whopping $1,664 if I didn’t add any new money.

So I’m continuing to bounce between $33,000 and $35,000 while I’m still adding as much new money to the portfolio as possible. The portfolio was at $33,000-ish in September and seven months later I’m still yet to reach $36,000. It’s bloody frustrating but I’m very committed and determined to achieve my second BIG goal of making $2,000 per month from this ETF portfolio. The first goal which I achieved at the end of 2025 was to earn $2,000 worth of dividends in one year from ETFs. Still plenty to do but I like a challenge.

I added 2 shares to JEPQ (listed as JPEQ in Australia), added $229.65 to HYLD, $262.16 to SCHD, $141.10 to VGS, $163.18 to the high yield Australian shares ETF VHY, and bought $60.62 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 March 2026…

See the ETF Dividend Portfolio from February.

What to Expect in April

Well, because I’m posting this update so late in April I already know what I have done for the month. So I can pretend that I’m psychic and tell you exactly what I have done so far or I can just leave it at that. And that’s what I’ll do.. leave it at that for now! 😉

How has your freedom making machine started 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 March

Total Index Funds portfolio value (VHY, VGS, GEAR, JPEQ, FEPI, QQQI, SCHD, NDQ, ATEC, HYLD and IVV): $34,450 down from $35,143.

Most recent dividend payment (March): $200.11 up from $123.15 in February (Monthly dividends from JPEQ, FEPI, HYLD, and QQQI)
Dividends paid in March 2025: $98.94 which is a 102% Increase YoY (Year on Year)
6 Month Dividends Monthly Average: $183.53 up from $172.43 last month
Dividends paid in 2026: $577.24 (this time last year it was $371.59)
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: $3445.86

ETF Dividends Goal 2: $2,000+ per month.