Picking up Nickels

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

May 2016 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on May 10th, 2016:


Asset Apr
2016
May
2016
Change
Checking 958 1,741 783
Money Market 64,743 72,039 7,296
Savings Bonds 105,857 108,962 3,105
Treasury Bills 0 0 0
CDs 48,904 39,009 -10,015
Brokerage 126,655 127,140 485
401k 124,248 126,434 2,186
Roth IRA 105,503 107,257 1,754
SEP IRA 515,709 526,309 10,600
529 Savings 133,187 135,538 2,351



Total Assets $1,225,884 $1,244,429 $18,545
   
 
1.51%


The S&P 500 has continued to rise since the last update, rising 2.08% over that period:

(chart courtesy of yahoo.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for April remained flat at 5.0%, with an apparently sluggish 160,000 jobs added. Oil prices have continued to rise to the $44 level (up from $41), with local gasoline prices touching the $2.20 price point.

On the financial front, my asset level has reached a new all time high, besting the previous high from May 2015. After a little drama, I was pleased to see that the entire Series I Savings Bond portion of my 2015 Federal tax refund had finally arrived. For some reason the ten bonds arrived in separate batches over a two week period, where in past years they have all arrived on the same day. I also had my Penfed 1.31% APY 1 year CD mature since the last update, and have the cash sitting in a money market account for now with no compelling place to put it. Finally, I need to break down and make an initial 2016 SEP IRA contribution since we're already a third of the way through 2016.

On the non-financial front, it's nice to have the chilly April weather and last week's rain behind us and see 70° temperatures outside again. Not so crazy about the accompanying pollen though...