November 2013 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on November 11th, 2013:

Asset	Oct 2013	Nov 2013	Change
Checking	2,271	1,380	-891
Money Market	41,284	52,374	11,090
Savings Bonds	81,399	81,519	120
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	75,758	59,726	-16,032
Brokerage	103,576	107,465	3,889
401k	128,549	131,342	2,793
Roth IRA	77,329	84,676	7,347
SEP IRA	393,551	415,116	21,565
529 Savings	92,238	94,531	2,293
Total Assets	$995,955	$1,028,129	$32,174
			3.23%

The S&P 500 is up 3.61% since the last update, closing yesterday within a fraction of its all-time high:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for October rose slightly to 7.3% but more jobs were created than expected (surprising since a large number of federal workers were furloughed due to the government shutdown). Oil prices have continued to pull back from $102 to around $95 over the past month, and I've seen local gasoline prices start to fall to slightly above $3 per gallon.

On the financial front, my asset levels have surpassed the all-time high I reached last month. Even better, I have finally hit the $1m asset milestone! I've certainly come a long way over the past seven years since I started this blog in August 2006, and seeing my assets more than double during that time is a testament to my approach of saving, investing, and "staying the course". I did add some new money to my investments though, with full 2013 Roth IRA contributions for Mrs. Frugalson and myself plus an initial 2013 SEP IRA contribution from my S Corp.

The other big happening around here is that I've chosen an HVAC contractor to install central air conditioning in my home. It should hopefully be completed before the next update, which means we will be ready for any heat waves that may hit the Northeast in December. :p