Picking up Nickels

Friday, January 11, 2013

January 2013 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on January 10th, 2013:


Asset Dec
2012
Jan
2013
Change
Checking 795 837 -42
Money Market 41,925 37,584 -4,341
Savings Bonds 67,413 67,570 157
Treasury Bills 0 0 0
CDs 72,490 80,712 8,222
Brokerage 99,768 106,897 7,129
401k 107,297 111,939 4,642
Roth IRA 65,347 67,911 2,564
SEP IRA 320,469 330,805 10,336
529 Savings 74,578 77,167 2,589



Total Assets $850,082 $881,422 $31,340
   
 
3.69%


The S&P 500 has continued to rise over the past month to a five year high, up 3.78% since the last update:


(chart courtesy of msn.com)

It has been interesting watching the stock market run-up since the folks in Washington finally stopped grandstanding and came up with a deal on the fiscal cliff (such as it is). I know of one person who spent their lunch hour getting out of the stock market in late December based on the advice of the so-called "investment gurus" at their company with the intent of getting back in when things settle and "reaping" their gains. Of course, the S&P 500 index is up about 3% since then so perhaps there is something to the "stay the course" mentality after all. I do wonder when these "investment gurus"
will advise getting back into the market though. :)

So, on to the next partisan battle over the debt ceiling where Democrats and Republicans will spend so much time trying to screw each other that the end result will be all of us getting screwed instead (thanks guys!). On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for December was flat at 7.8%. Oil prices have risen a bit to $93, as I know all too well when I paid about $500 for half a tank of heating oil last week (which would have been less than $200 a decade ago).

On the financial front, once again my assets have surpassed their previous all time high from December. I should get a bit of a boost to that number in the first quarter when I fund my 2012 SEP IRA contribution, so the $900k asset level could be within reach as long as the stock market continues to cooperate. On a lesser note, I did shift a bit of cash into a Penfed 1 year CD @ 1.25% APY this week. It's a pretty competitive rate in this environment, but it's basically just a way for me to punt into early 2014 and hope that better opportunities for cash are available one year from now.

As for other matters, it's tax time! I've already sent my 2012 S Corp accounting data to my CPA, so I've already started on the road toward working on the annual Q1 burden of business and personal tax returns. One thing I'm curious about is how having Mrs. Frugalson back in the workforce will impact my tax situation. It's been years since we've been in that situation (a nice problem to have), so I have to admit I'm going into this like a babe in the woods. Either way, I'm guessing that I'm not going to be covered in diamonds and furs any time soon. :)