Six Month Moving Average Monthly Income from ETFs

I know the ETF Income Portfolio has barely been in existence for 12 months but I’m going to start tracking my average monthly income from dividends paid. The only reason for me to invest in anything is to produce an income that will set me free from the slave system that was created by monsters and is continually improved and tinkered with today.

If an investment doesn’t produce an income then it is a mere decoration. Once you reach the freedom level of wealth and your passive income comfortably allows you to be human then you can start thinking about investments that don’t produce an income. Things like gold, silver, classic cars, and art become excellent ways to diversify and store your wealth. They won’t produce an income but hopefully they’ll increase in value over time.

So the value of my portfolio is of much less interest to me than the income it produces. I also have no interest in selling shares to pay for my living expenses, which means that I’ll never buy stocks that don’t pay dividends. Our goal should be to continually increase the amount of shares we own forever, not to sell some whenever we have a bill to pay.

6 Month Income Average

The reason I chose a 6 month average is that it covers all of the payment cycles. I have stocks that pay monthly, quarterly and twice yearly so the six months gives an accurate indication of where I’m at.

All I’m doing is adding up the total of the dividends paid from the previous six months and dividing that amount by six which will give me an average monthly income. Months like January, April, July and October will always be higher as that is when my main quarterly paying ETFs distribute dividends, while the months where just the monthly payers pay out will be much leaner periods so averaging them out will give me a much clearer picture.

If I averaged it out over 12 months I don’t think it would reflect where I’m at now. There would be too much lag as I’m contributing new money to the portfolio every month and the dividends should be increasing with each payment. With six months it reflects the new funds added and takes into account the lumpiness of the payments.

You can see the monthly dividends paid out here. I’ve only had a total of seven dividend paying months as the portfolio is so new and I only recently bought a few monthly paying exchange traded funds. Which means going forward there’ll be no more zero dollar months.

My goal is to always improve upon the month that drops off the 6 month period. Meaning February through to July this year was a $43.60 average and to improve on this number I now need the new month (August) to be higher than the disappearing month (February). This will be an easy one to start with because I received no dividends in February. If I only earn $10 this August my 6 month average will increase but I’m hoping to receive more than $40 from my monthly payers.

Monthly Income Record

• July 2024 | $43.60 monthly average from a 6 month total of $261.60
  This amount would buy me a few loaves of bread, some cheese, vegemite, and margarine. Technically I could survive on that if I lived under a bridge and had no other expenses. Which means, lots of work to do yet!
• August 2024 | $50.86 monthly average from a 6 month total of $305.20
  Very happy to have the average above $50 per month. Next is $100+ monthly average. I love having the monthly paying ETFs in the portfolio as there’s no more zero dollar months. It’s nice to see dividends coming in every month rather than just quarterly.
• September 2024 | $58.19 monthly average from a total of $349.18
  It looks like my monthly average is increasing by about $8 every month. All progress is good progress but I would like to increase that number significantly as my first dividend goal for the ETF portfolio is $2000+ per year.
• October 2024 | $66.28 monthly average from a total of $397.79
  Another $8 per month increase for the rolling six month dividend payments. At this rate I’ll have an $82 average by the end of the year but I’ll be pushing hard for a $100 average!! Covered call option ETFs are the reason for the increase in dividends but I’m also continuing to add to plain vanilla S&P500 and ASX index ETFs as I want dividends AND growth.
• November 2024 | $76.89 monthly average from a total of $461.36
  That’s an increase of about $10 this month and I have achieved my first BIG goal of $20,000 worth of exchange traded funds in 2024. I’m also getting closer to the $100+ per month in dividends.
• December 2024 | $87.20 monthly average from a total of $523.23
  Another $10+ increase for the month and another step closer to three figure payments every month. Month to month it can feel frustratingly slow but when you stand back and see your progress over time it can be very rewarding.
• January 2025 | $96.38 monthly average from a total of $578.29
  My plan is that I’ll see a $100+ monthly average in February. I’ll try to add some funds to the high interest monthly dividend payers to reach the three figure number!
• February 2025 | $103.66 monthly average from a total of $621.98
  Woohoo! The average dividend income is above the $100 mark! I’m very happy with this achievement. Onwards and upwards from here.
• March 2025 | $111.25 monthly average from a total of $667.55
  A seven dollar-ish increase is pretty good but I would like to see that increase by at least double. Next month is already looking good with some big dividend increases from the Vanguard ETFs.
• April 2025 | $133.30 monthly average from a total of $799.80
  The average increased by about $22 this month which was helped by the larger than expected payment from the Vanguard high dividend ETF VHY. I can never really predict what that ETF is going to pay out! January they paid out $47 and this month it was $126.
• May 2025 | $138.37 monthly average from a total of $830.25
  That’s roughly $5 more per month over six months so it’s a move in the right direction. Now to turbo charge that move! I’m pushing to get a $200 average.