April 2016 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on April 11th, 2016:

Asset	Mar 2016	Apr 2016	Change
Checking	1,669	958	-711
Money Market	65,104	64,743	-361
Savings Bonds	105,825	105,857	32
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	48,904	49,024	120
Brokerage	121,099	126,655	5,556
401k	121,438	124,248	2,810
Roth IRA	102,918	105,503	2,585
SEP IRA	501,546	515,709	14,163
529 Savings	129,986	133,187	3,201
Total Assets	$1,198,489	$1,225,884	$27,395
			2.29%

The S&P 500 has continued to trend upward since the last update, rising 2.29% over that period:

(chart courtesy of yahoo.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for March rose slightly to 5.0%, while the 215,000 jobs added exceeded expectations. Oil prices have edged up to the $41 level (up from $38), and I've been seeing local gasoline prices above the $2 threshold again.

On the financial front, all of my 2015 personal and business tax returns are finally complete. I did get a modest refund on my Federal return and will be getting a portion of it in paper Series I Savings Bonds. On a related note, the March CPI-U numbers are due out later this week so that a Series I Savings Bond purchase can be properly evaluated. I'm anticipating a situation like last year where we had a six month period of 0% interest, but we'll know for sure on Thursday. Finally, I have a Penfed 1.31% APY 1 year CD maturing early next month with the usual dilemma of no concrete landing spot for the proceeds.

On the non-financial front, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of some warm Spring weather and the flowers and green grass that should accompany it. :D