Picking up Nickels

Thursday, August 10, 2017

August 2017 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on August 9th, 2017:


Asset Jul
2017
Aug
2017
Change
Checking 6,256 5,632 -624
Money Market 63,323 69,456 6,133
Savings Bonds 136,107 136,420 313
Treasury Bills 0 0 0
CDs 41,327 41,442 115
Brokerage 152,782 153,181 399
401k 150,478 156,497 6,019
Roth IRA 132,402 135,335 2,933
SEP IRA 644,800 654,407 9,607
529 Savings 159,098 162,075 2,977



Total Assets $1,486,573 $1,514,445 $27,872
   
 
1.87%


The S&P 500 has been on a steady climb since the last update, rising 1.92% during that time:

(chart courtesy of google.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for July fell to 4.3%, with a higher than expected 209,000 new jobs created. Oddly, all of these strong economic indicators are coming at a time when President Trump has dismal approval ratings. Oil prices have had a bit of a bump from $44 to the current $50 level, which corresponds to several local gas stations selling regular unleaded for $2.25.

On the financial front, my asset levels have reached an all-time high for the NINTH month in a row, breaking the previous high from July 2017 while reaching the $1.5m asset level. As for money moves, I did take an S Corp distribution earlier this month and I will likely be making an additional 2017 SEP IRA employer contribution at some point next month.

As for the non-financial, I've been doing some work to try to get my lawn back into decent shape. My turf used to be the envy of the neighborhood, but it declined a bit over the years due to spending less time and using fewer potentially toxic products once I became a parent. On that note, it's hard to believe my kids will be returning to school in less than a month!