Picking up Nickels

Friday, May 11, 2018

May 2018 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on May 10th, 2018:


Asset Apr
2018
May
2018
Change
Checking 216 954 738
Money Market 60,664 59,351 -1,313
Savings Bonds 153,537 153,860 323
Treasury Bills 0 0 0
CDs 42,363 42,478 115
Brokerage 151,373 155,277 3,904
401k 174,174 176,709 2,535
Roth IRA 151,064 153,890 2,826
SEP IRA 724,160 743,198 19,038
529 Savings 174,147 175,463 1,316



Total Assets $1,631,698 $1,661,180 $29,482
   
 
1.81%


We've had a bit of an uptick since the last update, with the S&P 500 rising 2.49% during that time:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for April fell to 3.9% with 164,000 jobs created (the lowest rate since December 2000). Oil prices have continued to rise to the $71 level (up from $66), with prices potentially headed considerably higher courtesy of the POTUS opting out of the Iran nuclear deal.

On the financial front, May has been a slow month. I've been pleased with my recently-opened Fidelity solo 401k plan, although I am a bit surprised that I have to actually mail in my contributions instead of doing so electronically. I do like the ability to be able to make both employee and employer profit-sharing contributions, which was not possible with the my longtime Vanguard SEP IRA.

As for the non-financial, the big thing on the agenda is that my oldest child will be graduating from high school in less than a month! It's amazing how quickly the first eighteen years have passed.