April 2024 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on April 10th, 2024:

Asset	Mar 2024	Apr 2024	Change
Checking	4,974	1,960	-3,014
Money Market	65,233	73,698	8,465
Savings Bonds	236,751	224,657	-12,094
Treasurys	90,000	90,000	0
CDs	51,184	50,890	-294
Brokerage	396,908	414,339	17,431
401k	365,734	372,492	6,758
Roth IRA	284,416	292,917	8,501
IRA	1,429,404	1,426,592	-2,812
529 Savings	175,352	174,066	-1,286
Total Assets	$3,099,956	$3,121,611	$21,655
			0.70 %

The S&P 500 has continued to reach all-time highs, rising 0.83% (+8.19% YTD) since the last update:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for March fell to 3.8%, with an unanticipated 303,000 new jobs added. Oil prices rose to the $85 level (from $78) as Middle East tensions continue. The $85 price translates to a local unleaded regular gasoline price of $3.25 at my last fill-up. We also had a somewhat hotter-than-expected March inflation report this week, which could put a damper on expected FOMC interest rate cuts later this year.

On the financial front, my assets have again hit an all-time high, surpassing the previous high from March 2024! I did the usual Fidelity 401k transaction (FSKAX) and Vanguard VTI purchase in my taxable brokerage account. My 13 week T-Bills (5.404%) matured and were rolled into new ones at 5.374%. I also took a distribution from my S Corp and redeemed my November 2016 I Bonds with a 0% fixed rate early this month and have a scheduled purchase to replace them with April 2024 I bonds with a 1.3% fixed rate (5.27% combined). I had an Alliant 5.00% APY 12 month CD mature earlier this month and was fortunate to have proactively replaced it with an Alliant 17 month @ 5.40% APY CD in March before the rate was cut a few days later. Mrs. Frugalson and I also made our full 2023 Roth IRA contributions since the last update.

As for the non-financial, our 2023 personal tax returns are done, an unpleasant task that I'm pleased to have behind me. However, the biggest highlight this month was being notified that the youngest Frugalson child received a full academic scholarship that will pay for graduate school! It shows how difficult it can be to plan for the cost of a young child's college education, where it's easily possible to under save for a pricey private school education or over save when unplanned scholarships surface many years later. One of my tasks this year is to explore the 529 to Roth IRA rollover option made available with the SECURE 2.0 Act in 2022, which should help somewhat.