February 2018 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on February 12th, 2018:

Asset	Jan 2018	Feb 2018	Change
Checking	404	576	172
Money Market	79,939	61,208	-18,731
Savings Bonds	137,823	148,086	10,263
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	42,019	42,137	118
Brokerage	159,943	156,823	-3,120
401k	173,848	166,226	-7,622
Roth IRA	150,431	144,552	-5,879
SEP IRA	742,200	713,238	-28,962
529 Savings	173,166	171,017	-2,149
Total Assets	$1,659,773	$1,603,863	-$55,910
			-3.37%

A bit of reality finally set in and the S&P 500 actually went down since the last update (the first time since October 2016!), falling 4.03% during that time:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for January remained flat for the fourth month in a row at 4.1%, with a strong 200,000 jobs created. The stock market has been a bit volatile of late, with worries that the strong job market and the tax cut passed last year could start to drive inflation and rising interest rates. Oil prices fell a bit to the $59 level (down from $63).

On the financial front, my only move of note was to max out my 2018 I Bond purchase in late January. I'm also due to make my final 2017 SEP IRA contribution before my S Corp tax returns are due next month. One cool milestone is that my oldest child had a part time job in 2018 and will be able to make a modest 2017 Roth IRA contribution. He's looking at 40+ years of tax-free compound interest when all is said and done.

As for the non-financial, the next piece of the puzzle is finishing up 2017 business and personal tax returns and waiting for the warmer weather to arrive.