August 2017 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on August 9th, 2017:

Asset	Jul 2017	Aug 2017	Change
Checking	6,256	5,632	-624
Money Market	63,323	69,456	6,133
Savings Bonds	136,107	136,420	313
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	41,327	41,442	115
Brokerage	152,782	153,181	399
401k	150,478	156,497	6,019
Roth IRA	132,402	135,335	2,933
SEP IRA	644,800	654,407	9,607
529 Savings	159,098	162,075	2,977
Total Assets	$1,486,573	$1,514,445	$27,872
			1.87%

The S&P 500 has been on a steady climb since the last update, rising 1.92% during that time:

(chart courtesy of google.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for July fell to 4.3%, with a higher than expected 209,000 new jobs created. Oddly, all of these strong economic indicators are coming at a time when President Trump has dismal approval ratings. Oil prices have had a bit of a bump from $44 to the current $50 level, which corresponds to several local gas stations selling regular unleaded for $2.25.

On the financial front, my asset levels have reached an all-time high for the NINTH month in a row, breaking the previous high from July 2017 while reaching the $1.5m asset level. As for money moves, I did take an S Corp distribution earlier this month and I will likely be making an additional 2017 SEP IRA employer contribution at some point next month.

As for the non-financial, I've been doing some work to try to get my lawn back into decent shape. My turf used to be the envy of the neighborhood, but it declined a bit over the years due to spending less time and using fewer potentially toxic products once I became a parent. On that note, it's hard to believe my kids will be returning to school in less than a month!