February 2014 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on February 10th, 2014:

Asset	Jan 2014	Feb 2014	Change
Checking	3,032	1,558	-1,474
Money Market	47,747	51,657	3,910
Savings Bonds	81,745	81,833	88
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	61,966	62,142	176
Brokerage	116,254	113,865	-2,389
401k	135,832	132,566	-3,266
Roth IRA	87,627	85,903	-1,724
SEP IRA	430,055	422,228	-7,827
529 Savings	98,669	99,250	581
Total Assets	$1,062,927	$1,051,002	-$11,925
			-1.12%

The S&P 500 has pulled back 2.31% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for January fell one again from 6.7% to 6.6%, which is the lowest number in more than five years. Unfortunately, this has once again been characterized as a disappointing number due to the amount of people dropping out of the workforce. Oil prices rose to around the $100 level over the past month, which helped contribute to my $3.75 per gallon heating oil delivery a couple of weeks ago.

On the financial front, I'm moving into a quiet period as I work on my S Corp and personal 2013 income tax returns. I'll be making my final 2013 SEP IRA contribution soon since my S Corp returns are due next month, and I'll also be keeping an eye on the monthly CPI-U numbers when an eye toward a Series I Savings Bond purchase.

As for the non-financial, I'm getting quite sick of the cold and snowy weather during this fine winter season. I'm certainly tired of ruining the impeller belt on my trusty Ariens snow blower that I bought for a nicely discounted price nearly seven years ago. I've burned up four of them over the past few years during slushy conditions despite trying to be diligent about keeping the snow blower chute clear and unclogged. While annoying, fortunately it's a cheap fix (less than $10). :(