August 2014 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on August 11th, 2014:

Asset	Jul 2014	Aug 2014	Change
Checking	3,272	1,310	-1,962
Money Market	45,359	45,525	166
Savings Bonds	92,381	92,483	102
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	62,998	63,188	190
Brokerage	126,614	125,671	-943
401k	143,923	141,121	-2,802
Roth IRA	93,123	91,923	-1,200
SEP IRA	465,187	460,694	-4,493
529 Savings	108,996	109,305	309
Total Assets	$1,141,853	$1,131,220	-$10,633
			-0.93%

The S&P 500 has fallen from all time highs over the past month, down 1.41% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)


First, this month marks the 8th anniversary of this blog! I realize that my efforts have basically evolved over time into a personal financial status update, but I like the fact that it forces me to take a good accounting of my savings and investments on a regular basis. If nothing else, it certainly is rewarding to see that the value of my assets has almost tripled since August 2006 as I've stayed the course despite a meltdown of the housing market and financial sector, a recession, and a sloooow economic recovery. Now, on to the show!

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for July rose to 6.2% with 209,000 jobs added. Oil prices continued the downward trend over the past month and fell below the $100 barrier to about $97.

On the financial front, I'm pretty much in the dog days of summer as I wait to make a 2014 SEP IRA contribution after my August Payroll. I do have some dry powder in my money market accounts if an appealing place to put some money presents itself, but I'm not terribly confident that any interesting opportunities will pop up any time soon.

For the non-financial, I have been watching my electric bills increase by 10-15% over last year as our new pool filter and central A/C have been running quite a bit over the past couple of months. I am curious about what our bills would look like during a heat wave, but I'm certainly not going to complain about a dearth of hot and humid 90° days this year. Other than that, the young Frugalsons will be back to school soon and I am enjoying the fact that I am not in the process of installing a new pool or central A/C or buying a new car any time soon (I hope). :)