February 2023 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on February 10th, 2023:

Asset	Jan 2023	Feb 2023	Change
Checking	3,122	2,842	-280
Money Market	58,721	62,212	3,491
Savings Bonds	220,956	222,491	1,535
Treasury Bills	60,000	60,000	0
CDs	43,489	43,696	207
Brokerage	294,626	303,023	8,397
401k	411,596	430,252	18,656
Roth IRA	227,189	234,420	7,231
SEP IRA	1,008,717	1,040,383	31,666
529 Savings	163,568	164,755	1,187
Total Assets	$2,491,984	$2,564,074	$72,090
			2.89%

The S&P 500 has bounced back nicely, rising 4.37% (6.54% YTD) since the last update. There was also a good sign on the inflation front last week where the FOMC "only" raised rates by 0.25% as they see progress on the inflation fight:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for January fell to 3.4% (the lowest since 1969!), with a blowout number of 517,000 new jobs added. Oil prices are up again to the $79 level (from $76). That translates to a local regular unleaded gasoline price of $3.27 per gallon at my last fill-up.

On the financial front, I did the usual Fidelity 401k transaction (FSKAX) and Vanguard VTI purchase in my taxable brokerage account. I took the funds from my maturing 13 week T-Bills (4.221%) and rolled $20k into new ones with an investment rate of 4.708%. I also took a distribution from my S Corp and opened a Navy Federal 5.00% APY 15 month add-on CD with $100 in case that rate ends up being more attractive than T-Bills later this year.

As for the rest, I'm working on my 2022 business and personal tax returns and the final corresponding solo 401k and Roth IRA contributions. Tomorrow is also the release date for the January 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) inflation data, which will give us another data point into what the new May 2023 I Bond rates will look like.

Navy Federal Credit Union 5% APY 15 Month Add-On CD Special Offer

Just a quick heads-up about this deal from Navy Fed.

Here are the details:

Limit one Special 15-Month Certificate (Share Only) per member. This offer, including the stated Annual Percentage Yield (APY), is effective as of January 9, 2023. Navy Federal reserves the right to end or modify this offer at any time. Excludes IRA and ESA certificates. The Special 15-Month Certificate (Share Only) has a $50 minimum balance and a $250,000 maximum balance. Additional deposits are allowed at any time, subject to the maximum balance. Dividends earned are not included in the maximum balance allowed. Once the promotional rate is applied to a purchased certificate, it will remain in effect for the length of the product term. Penalties apply for early withdrawals from certificate accounts. Other restrictions may apply.

I opened one of these CDs with $100 as a fallback plan in the event that interest rates have already peaked and may start heading in the other direction. The FOMC announced a 0.25% rate hike yesterday while noting that "inflation has eased somewhat" but "the job is not fully done", so who knows?

My current thinking is to stick with rolling 3 month T-Bills for now since they have a 5%+ tax-equivalent yield for my situation, but if that changes I have the option of shifting that cash to the 5% APY Navy Fed add-on CD. My guess is that I'm never going to use it, but it is a nice hedge against falling interest rates.