January 2025 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on January 10th, 2025:

Asset	Dec 2024	Jan 2025	Change
Checking	3,459	2,191	-1,268
Money Market	81,243	82,041	798
Savings Bonds	245,698	246,386	688
Treasurys	100,000	110,000	10,000
CDs	52,371	52,557	186
Brokerage	553,079	501,867	-51,212
401k	475,046	461,366	-13,680
Roth IRA	328,000	315,382	-12,618
IRA	1,598,480	1,542,484	-55,996
529 Savings	170,368	167,353	-3,015
Total Assets	$3,607,744	$3,481,627	-$126,117
			-3.50 %

The S&P 500 has pulled back in the new year, falling 3.44% (-0.93% YTD) since the last update:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

Unfortunately, the devastating California wildfires are dominating the current news cycle. The loss of life and property damage has been terribly high and is getting worse every day. My thoughts are with everyone there and I hope the fires are brought under control soon so the long recovery can begin.

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for December fell to 4.1%, with a blowout number of 256,000 new jobs created. That was not good news for the stock market as the resilient economy could lead to fewer interest rate cuts in 2025. It's also unclear what impact the proposed tariffs, trade wars, isolationism, mass deportations, debt-financed tax cuts, meddling with the Federal Reserve, etc. proposed by incoming Trump administration will have on inflation, interest rates, and the economy. Unfortunately, the economy is strong enough right now that things are more likely to get worse than get better. Also, oil prices have risen to the $78 level (from $69) with that $78 price reflected in a local unleaded regular gasoline price of $2.79 and a heating oil price of $3.10 at my last fill-up.

On the financial front, my assets have dropped a bit since the last update. I did the usual Fidelity 401k transaction (FSKAX) and Vanguard VTI purchase in my taxable brokerage account. I also took an S Corp distribution and my 13 week T-Bills (4.615%) matured and were rolled into new ones at 4.335%. I also started rolling 4 week T-Bills (4.339%) to try to get a bit more tax-equivalent yield on short-term cash than money market funds are currently offering.

As for the non-financial, we officially put the holidays behind us by taking down our Christmas decorations a few days ago and trying to start fresh with the new year. For better or worse, extended family drama and mistakes by my S-Corp payroll and 401k providers are definitely motivating me to put 2024 behind me. I'm also still trying to wrap my head around a young relative's foolish financial choices and know at some point their never-ending spending spree on new cars, vacations, and gadgets will end badly. Not my circus, not my monkeys, right?