Another month is over, which means that it’s time to report our passive income.
The last month of the quarter is something I look forward to, as it usually brings the largest dividend payments from quarterly payers.
Dividend Income
In March, 6 companies paid dividends:
I like to compare each dividend with a real household expense to see what parts of our lifestyle the portfolio already supports:
- $4.84 – Target (TGT): covered 0.3% of our Food expenses over the last 3 months
- $7.62 – Capital One Financial (COF): covered 13.6% of our Banking expenses over the last 3 months
- $36.55 – Pfizer (PFE): covered 14.4% of our Health expenses for the last month
- $8.36 – United Parcel Service (UPS): covered 1.4% of our Car & Transportation expenses over the last 3 months
- $2.32 – Microsoft (MSFT): covered 0.8% of our Subscriptions & Personal Development costs over the last 3 months
- $8.19 – Prologis (PLD): covered 0.4% of our Mortgage payments over the last 2 months
Seeing dividends gradually cover parts of our everyday expenses is always motivating, even at this early stage of the journey.
Dividend Year-on-Year Comparison
Let’s compare dividends to what we received in March 2025:
Compared to March last year, dividend income more than doubled.
The main driver was the dividend from Pfizer, which I added in the second half of 2025. In addition, most of the other companies – except UPS – also increased their dividend payouts.
Other Passive Income Sources
In addition to dividends, we earned income from several other sources:
- €7.14 – P2P lending
- €1.30 – Real Estate Crowdfunding
- €4.71 – Money Market Funds
- €0.91 – Real Estate Crowdfunding (rental income)
Passive Income Summary
In total, the portfolio generated €72.49 of passive income in March:
This is the highest monthly income so far this year, and hopefully not the last record in 2026.
The chart below compares passive income across the years:
So far, each month has improved compared to previous years – a trend I hope to maintain going forward.
Portfolio Contributions and New Investments
I added €600 to my investment account in March.
Together with previously saved cash, I used this to initiate a new position:
On March 4th, I bought one share of ASML for €1,179 (including commission):
ASML Holding is one of the most important companies in the global semiconductor industry. Based in the Netherlands, it designs and manufactures advanced lithography machines used to produce computer chips.
What makes ASML unique is its dominance in EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography – a highly complex technology required to manufacture the most advanced semiconductors. In fact, ASML is currently the only company in the world capable of producing these machines at scale.
Its customers include major chipmakers like TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Intel, making ASML a critical supplier in the global tech ecosystem.
ASML is not a typical dividend stock, as its yield is relatively low. However, I wanted to add exposure to the Information Technology sector, and ASML has been on my watchlist for a long time. Despite its premium valuation, I believe the company has a strong and durable competitive advantage.
Key stats at purchase:
- Dividend yield – 0.64%
- 4-year average yield – 0.94%
- Payout ratio – 30%
- Dividend growth streak – 10 years
- 5 year dividend growth rate – 21.99%
- P/E (TTM) – 47.5
- Net Debt / EBITDA – 0.25
Based on the payouts for 2025, this adds €6.37 to my net annual forward dividend income.
Summary
March was another strong month, with record passive income for the year and a new addition to the portfolio.
My goal for 2026 is to earn €750 in passive income. After the first quarter, I’ve reached 20.6% of that goal, so there is still some catching up to do. However, with consistent contributions, I remain optimistic.
Thanks for reading! 🙂