Picking up Nickels

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

May 2010 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on May 11th, 2010:

Asset Apr 2010 May 2010 Change
Checking 534 602 68
Money Market 45,646 35,524 -10,122
Savings Bonds 26,009 36,033 10,024
Treasury Bills 0 0 0
CDs 114,737 115,150 413
Brokerage 90,869 86,060 -4,809
401k 90,741 86,016 -4,725
Roth IRA 41,682 40,311 -1,371
SEP IRA 206,242 200,206 -6,036
529 Savings 44,704 44,186 -518
Total Assets $661,164 $644,088 -$17,076
      (-2.58%)



We were in the process of a decent month for the S&P 500 until the mystery crash on May 6th, with the index falling 3.23% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

The US had more job growth in April, yet the unemployment rate rose to 9.9% (seems counterintuitive, doesn't it?). The financial mess in Greece has contributed to stock market jitters and oil prices have dropped to around $76 per barrel despite the BP oil spill that is making an environmental nightmare out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Six weeks later, I'm still dealing with the fallout of the flooding we had on our property in late March. I'm still working on moving our belongings back into our basement, deciding on a contractor to fix the mess that the storm made out of our yard, and getting the back-ordered sump pump I've been waiting for to show up so I can finish our permanent sump pump installation. Dealing with our flood has taken up quite a bit of my time lately, but I've realized what a minor inconvenience it really is considering the hell that the state of Tennessee has gone through recently. Besides, my new concern is that Mrs. Frugalson is looking to spend a bit of money on some new projects around the house, so I've also got that going for me. :)

Moneywise, I maxed out on April 2010 issue paper and electronic Series I savings bonds and still need to start funding my 2009 SEP IRA contributions. I hope to have funded 50% of my contribution by the end of the month, so I should have plenty of time to fund the rest before my S Corp tax extension is up in the Fall. Good times.