The ETF Dividend Portfolio Hits $30,000

I started the ETF portfolio back in September of 2023 with the goal of sharing how easy it is to get started with stocks. Before starting the ETF portfolio I had only invested in individual stocks but I always intended to eventually get into exchange traded funds. I kept putting it off as I thought ETFs were a little boring.

My opinion about ETFs being boring hasn’t changed much but I’ve grown to love boring investments. After every $10,000 increase in the ETF portfolio they seem to become a little more interesting to me too. I’m pretty sure I’ll find ETFs totally fascinating by the time I reach $100,000 or $1,000,000!

ETF Dividend Payments in July

July was an all time high for the value of the ETF portfolio and for dividends paid out. The amounts coming in from the quarterly paying ETFs are really starting to become something meaningful.

JPEQ paid out $47.67, FEPI distributed $36.11, MSTY disappointed me with $25.80, SCHD sent me $13.49, IVV $12.16, ATEC $14.29, GEAR $18.92, NDQ $10.29, VGS $28.13, VHY $110.10 and QQQI gave me $23.76, which is a total of $340.72 for the month of July. Which means I now need an average of about $155 per month for the next 5 months to reach my first BIG goal of $2,000 worth of dividends in one year.

This time last year the portfolio made $130.30 in dividends for the month of July which is a 161% increase YoY (year on year).

The rolling 6 month, monthly dividend payment was $147.78 last month. It has grown by $25.88 per month to $173.66. I would love to see that sort of increase every month as the average increase has been closer to $10.

The ETF Dividend Portfolio for July

This month the ETF dividend portfolio has increased to $30,795 up from $29,593 in June which is an increase of about $1,202. New contributions were just $238 which means the market did most of the heavy lifting this month with $964 of the gain.

The only ETF I bought in July was the JP Morgan covered call fund JEPQ (listed as JPEQ in Australia). I was more focused on buying individual Australian shares for the upcoming September dividends. I try to add more shares between dividend payments so that my income is always increasing.

I just noticed that I invested less ($238) into the ETF portfolio than I received in dividends ($340) for the month. Normally that would bother me, but like I said, I invested more into individual stocks in July.

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 July 2025…

See the ETF Dividend Portfolio from June.

What to Expect in August

I think it’ll be another low contributions month in August as I’ll focus more on individual stocks again, but I’m still thinking about selling FEPI which is worth about $2,000.

My days of SUPER high dividend payers are probably over. I’m fine with 10% or 15% if the NAV is stable (Net Asset Value) or preferably increasing slightly but I don’t see the sense in holding something that’s continually losing value just because the dividends are high.

I’ll probably keep my YieldMax MSTY holding as I only have 16 shares and it’ll be a good reminder to stay away from the temptation of things that are too good to be true. I’ve only held MSTY for a couple of months and its down about 20% after the 8% drop on Friday.

There may be trading strategies that can make some of these very high yielding ETFs work but I’m not interested in trading at all. If I cant buy something and potentially hold onto it forever then I don’t want to own it ever.

And no, this doesn’t make me a high yield hater, it simply means they’re not for me. If you can make them work for you then I’m happy for you. I’ll continue to buy JEPQ and QQQI as they’ve kept their NAV steady. I might even look to add SPYI (S&P500) from NEOS who also manage QQQI (Nasdaq100).

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 July

Total Index Funds portfolio value (VHY, MSTY, VGS, GEAR, JPEQ, FEPI, QQQI, SCHD, NDQ, ATEC and IVV): $30,795 up from $29,593.

Most recent dividend payment (July): $340.72 up from $147.97 in June (Monthly and quarterly dividends from JPEQ, MSTY, FEPI, IVV, SCHD, ATEC, GEAR, NDQ, VGS, VHY and QQQI)
Dividends paid in July 2024: $130.30 which is a 161% Increase YoY (Year on Year)
6 Month Dividends Monthly Average: $173.66 up from $147.78 last month
Dividends paid in 2025 so far: $1,227.43 (this time last year it was $332.98)
Dividends paid in 2024: $725.85
All dividends paid in 2023: $102.68
All ETF dividend payments since starting the ETF portfolio: $2,087.85

ETF Dividends Goal 1: $2,000+ per year.