Picking up Nickels

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

September 2018 Financial Asset Roundup

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


Asset Aug
2018
Sep
2018
Change
Checking 1,083 1,198 115
Money Market 83,286 66,893 -16,393
Savings Bonds 154,824 155,168 344
Treasury Bills 0 5,000 5,000
CDs 29,590 29,695 105
Brokerage 161,653 163,709 2,056
401k 172,685 170,782 -1,903
Roth IRA 154,952 155,158 206
SEP IRA 776,046 789,634 13,588
529 Savings 177,101 176,470 -631



Total Assets $1,711,220 $1,713,707 $2,487
   
 
0.15%


It's hard to believe, but today is the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I'll never forget that day for as long as I live. :(

As for the business at hand, the market has continued to rise, with the S&P 500 up 1.55% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for August remained at 3.9%, with 201,000 jobs created. Oil prices have remained relatively flat at the $67 level. We also have Hurricane Florence heading toward the East Coast of the US, which could bring a devastating mix of high winds and flooding. My best to everyone in the path of this monster.

On the financial front, my assets have once again hit another all-time high, breaking the previous high from August 2018. That's pretty surprising considering the outflow of money we've experienced over the past few weeks (a reliable used car for my new college student to commute to school with, college tuition and related expenses, a new roof for our house, Q3 estimated taxes, etc.). Even better, those expenses will be followed up a pretty significant credit card bill that is due before the next update. On the plus side, I actually dipped my toe back in to T-Bills for the first time in nearly a decade. I ended up putting $5k in 28 day T-Bills with an investment rate of 1.939%, with gives me a tax-equivalent yield north of 2%. I'll probably dabble in T-Bills a bit more this year, but figure to move toward CDs if the FOMC ends up raising rates one or more times in 2018.

As for the non-financial, I've been hard at work on all things lawn. It's a great time to dethatch and overseed, and I'm trying to build on the success I had with my grass in 2018.