I finally got some interest income from my money market account. I was a little lax with investing in Q2 and as such ended up accumulating cash positions. I got $343.73 in dividends in my taxable account. This is an all-time high for any quarter. My previous best was 2017 Q4 with $228.07. This record is even better considering I achieved it in Q2. I am pretty much guaranteed to beat this record again in Q4 (dividend heavy for ETFs).



This is only my second quarter where I received dividends from my retirement account (IRA). I received $25.84 in dividends in my Roth IRA.



In terms of diversification, international ETF (VXUS) lead the way and contributed 42.22% of the dividends. VXUS tends to pay high dividends in Q2 and Q3. The US dividends are spread equally between my value fund and S&P 500 fund. High yield fund is slowly moving up and I am hoping to see it make a larger contribution in the future quarters.



All together I received $369.57 in dividends in 2018 Q2.



Dividend Growth

One of the important reasons for the strong growth has been volatility. I have been able to scoop some of the ETFs at lower prices. A lower price gets more units and thus improves my overall dividends. So, heading into Q3 I hope the volatility sticks around. My dividends of $369.57 represent a healthy 176.11% increase from my 2017 Q2 dividends.



Dividend Increases (Organic)

Typically there is at least one ETF which pays a lower dividend than the previous year. But, this time around there was dividend increase across the board. My S&P 500 ETF lead the way with a 14.65% increase in dividends. High yield ETF was the lowest at 5.41%. On an average I had a 9.95% increase (organic) in dividends. As a comparison the inflation rate is about 2.8%. So, my organic dividend increases have helped me surmount inflation barrier.



Portfolio

One area of concern has been my international ETFs. 2017 was a spectacular year for my international ETFs. However, with the persistent worries about trade wars and rising interesting rates bot the emerging and developed market stocks have been decimated. It provides me opportunities to buy more, but has also caused my portfolio to drop. This affects my overall progress towards FI. My porfolio has an ER of 0.0697% and generates $1,162.52 in (forward) dividends. I am at 6.97% of my financial independence goal.



Passive Income (2018)

2018 has been a great year for passive income. Dividends are but one source of my passive income. In addition I generate additional income through Vitality, credit card (cash back), Swagbucks, TopCashBack and raise. I categorize my (Roth) IRA dividends as a separate source as I do not have immediate access to it. As of June 2018, I received $1,335.24 in passive income. Side hustles lead the way and accounts for 54.40% of my passive income.



That's it folks. Q2 was an amazing quarter for me. How is Q2 shaping up for you?



Dividend Income Summary



Portfolio Summary

