September was another challenging month for stocks. Since I started this whole ETF investing thing a few months ago I am yet to see an up month! The ETF portfolio value is still increasing each month but only because I’m adding new money and my portfolio size is still quite small. I’m not complaining though as it simply means I’m buying stocks cheaper. This is a forever portfolio, not one where I trade in and out of whenever the weather changes.
So, the good news is that my ETF portfolio has increased by 11.7% from about $5,425 last month to $6,060 this month. That’s a $635 increase but that’s only because I deposited $748 in new money to my Vanguard account and received about $22 in dividends from VHY, VGS and VBLD. Which means I would have went backwards about $100 if I didn’t add any new cash to my ETF portfolio.
I wish I could keep that 11% monthly increase going for ten or fifteen years. It wouldn’t take too long to own the world! But like I mentioned last month when we had a 17.9% increase, those numbers will vanish as the portfolio grows in value and my monthly contributions become smaller in comparison to the overall value. I’m enjoying telling people my ETF portfolio increased by 11% while I can. They’re shocked until I explain how I actually did it.. lol.
The ETF Portfolio So Far
Above is a screenshot of all the ETFs and index funds that I currently hold. VGS, VHY, and VBLD are held within my Vanguard account and I’m using their auto-invest function to buy more shares every month, forever. It’s currently set to take $338 out of my bank account each month and invest $150 into VHY, $120 into VGS and $68 into VBLD. The other two ETFs (IVV and VAS) are held in my traditional brokerage account.
So far the only stock in the green is the IVV iShares S&P500 index ETF which is up almost 7%. I bought them before I started this ETF Dividend Portfolio though, otherwise they would be down too after the current 3 month lull in markets.
Also I started using Yahoo! Finance to see all of my ETFs in one portfolio view. The Vanguard website is VERY lacking in any sort of useful portfolio view and I wanted to see all of my ETFs in one place. Currently as I write this post on the 4th of November 2023, my ETF portfolio is valued at $6,142 which is up $90.80 or 1.50%.
Dividends Paid in October
All of the five ETFs that I currently own pay dividends quarterly and in October they all paid me a total of $52.90. In Australia that would almost buy me half a tank of gas for a small car, a restaurant meal if I don’t order anything too fancy, or a couple of discounted books on Amazon. So I’m not about to start buying mega yachts now that I have this new income coming in but it is a start!
John D. Rockefeller has been quoted as saying “Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It’s to see my dividends coming in.” While I don’t completely agree with him as there’s more amazing things on this planet than just dividends, I do agree that dividends are AMAZING! Dividends really are Units of Freedom as the more of them you receive, the more free you become.
My Dividend Goals with ETFs
I’m motivated by goals. I first set ridiculously large goals where I’m ruling the world and own everything, and then work back to something more realistic and achievable. So I might start by saying I want a million dollars per month from dividends in my ETF portfolio and then come back to a more realistic $500 per quarter or $2000 per year.
With goal setting I need wins to keep me in the game. One million dollars in dividends per month might be achievable but it could take decades unless I won the lottery or found myself a billionaire wife.
Five hundred per quarter in dividends is roughly ten times what I received in October so it’s not a completely unrealistic number, especially since I’m just getting started with ETFs.
As I get closer to achieving the $500 per quarter dividend goal I’ll review it and probably increase it.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along this path to financial freedom is that you have to change your mindset before you achieve true wealth. Sure, some people get lucky and become rich overnight, but if they do nothing to change their mindset then they’ll be the ones who see their newfound wealth disappear over time.
Much of this Financial Freedom thing is an inside job. That’s not to say that it doesn’t require hard physical work but if your mind keeps insisting that you don’t deserve to be financially free then it doesn’t matter how many hours you work, you’ll never be free.
Total ETF + Index Funds Portfolio for November
Portfolio value inside the Vanguard website: $2,557
ETFs outside of Vanguard: $3,503
Total Index Funds portfolio value (VHY, VAS, VGS, VBLD and IVV listed on the ASX and held in Vanguard): $6,060
Most recent quarterly dividend payment (October): $52.90
All dividends paid in 2023: $102.68
All ETF dividend payments since buying $150.64
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