Picking up Nickels

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

May 2020 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on May 11th, 2020:


Asset Apr
2020
May
2020
Change
Checking 3,775 3,227 -548
Money Market 54,697 56,375 1,678
Savings Bonds 162,269 162,556 287
Treasury Bills 0 0 0
CDs 95,516 95,764 248
Brokerage 169,168 174,290 5,122
401k 207,362 219,701 12,339
Roth IRA 159,027 165,781 6,754
SEP IRA 803,206 837,556 34,350
529 Savings 184,766 186,582 1,816



Total Assets $1,839,786 $1,901,832 $62,046
   
 
3.37%


In spite of the health and economic fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic, the S&P 500 has climbed 5.03% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for April spiked from 4.4% to 14.7% (the highest since the Great Depression), with 20.5 million jobs lost. The massive job loss and 80,000+ COVID-19 death toll is particularly sobering considering that the US had one COVID-19 death three months ago before the economy was shut down. *sigh* Oil prices have rallied a bit to the $26 level (from $23), which translated to a local regular unleaded gasoline price of $1.75 at my last fill up.

On the financial front, there isn't much to report. I did decide against buying April 2020 Series I bonds since the 0.2% fixed rate wasn't compelling enough in the low inflation environment that I think we'll be seeing for the foreseeable future.

As for Coronavirus-related financials, Mrs. Frugalson and I did receive our partial stimulus payment courtesy of the CARES Act last month. My Paycheck Protection Program loan with Bank of America also came through last week, which should help shore up my S Corp payroll for a couple of months while my largest client's retail locations have been closed since March.

As for the non-financial, I'm becoming somewhat accustomed to "pandemic living". Other than getting stressed when we have to go out in public and worrying about keeping parents and grandparents healthy, we are very fortunate to be sheltering comfortably with a roof over our collective heads and enough food and financial security to weather the storm. I'm very appreciative of whatever combination of luck, hard work, and careful planning have made that happen.