Update: The conspiracy to kill the U.S. savings bond

Unfortunately, it is time to provide an update on my three year old rant about the death spiral of the U.S. savings bond.

Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury announced that as of January 1, 2012, paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at financial institutions. Electronic savings bonds will be continue to be available at treasurydirect.gov ($5000 per individual per year), but annual contribution levels will basically be halved.

For now, there is still a loophole that will allow purchases of paper I bonds: Income tax returns can be used to purchase I bonds using IRS Form 8888. Is anyone willing to offer odds on how long it will take for the Treasury to make this purchase option disappear too? :(

July 2011 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on July 11th, 2011:

Asset	Jun 2011	Jul 2011	Change
Checking	2,213	1,779	-434
Money Market	42,694	42,651	-43
Savings Bonds	36,991	37,051	60
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	98,537	98,944	407
Brokerage	103,145	106,900	3,755
401k	101,063	102,095	1,032
Roth IRA	51,296	52,121	825
SEP IRA	251,505	257,164	5,659
529 Savings	54,699	55,657	958
Total Assets	$742,143	$754,362	$12,219
			(1.65%)

The S&P 500 has recovered somewhat since the last update, up 2.37% during that time:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

The unemployment rate for June rose for the third month in a row as it climbed to 9.2%. Rising unemployment, a struggling housing market, and the global sovereign debt crisis du jour don't bode well for the current "economic recovery". Oil prices have declined somewhat, falling from about $101 per barrel to around $94 per barrel despite the US and other countries releasing 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves.

On the financial front, my next domino to fall will be finally funding my 2010 SEP IRA contribution sometime in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to getting that milestone behind me.

Aside from that, it's hot and humid out there today and I need to find a cool and refreshing swimming pool with my name on it. :)