April 2010 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on April 9th, 2010:

Asset	Mar 2010	Apr 2010	Change
Checking	515	534	19
Money Market	40,471	45,646	5,175
Savings Bonds	25,985	26,009	24
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	112,576	114,737	2,161
Brokerage	87,284	90,869	3,585
401k	87,393	90,741	3,348
Roth IRA	40,350	41,682	1,332
SEP IRA	199,342	206,242	6,900
529 Savings	43,378	44,704	1,326
Total Assets	$637,294	$661,164	$23,870
			(4.60%)

We've had another strong month from the S&P 500 as the index gained 4.26% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

We actually had some job growth in March, although the unemployment rate continued to hold steady at 9.7%, although some naysayers believe it will continue to go up. Oil prices have been relatively flat, trending to around $84 per barrel this morning.

Most of my time over the past couple of weeks has been sucked up dealing with the flooding we had on our property two weeks ago. While our basement and yard are mostly dry, we're looking to spend a bit of cash on tidying up our sump pump installation, adding some water-resistant basement storage, having some electrical work done (including purchasing a generator), and finding someone to deal with our flooded landscaping. I heard one local weatherman say that we've had six months worth of rain in four weeks, so I want to be prepared to handle that a bit more gracefully should it happen again. On a more positive note, I did sign a contract extension with my largest client and am pleased that I will continue to work with them through mid 2011.

Moneywise, I took the proceeds from my maturing one year Bank of America CD @ 2.65% APY and moved it to a Penfed 5 year @ 3.50% APY CD before they dropped their rates back to 3.0% APY. Also, with the March 2010 CPI-U numbers coming out on Thursday, I'm guessing that I will be ready to max out on April 2010 issue paper and electronic Series I savings bonds since they will offer a compelling alternative to current 1 year CD offerings like the 2% APY CD now available at Southeast Financial FCU. Once I finally start tackling my post-flood to do list, I'm looking to share the results of my research and experiences like I did with my driveway paving project. Hopefully my findings will help someone else out there if they have the misfortune of being dealt a similar (soaking wet) hand. :)