April 2023 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on April 10th, 2023:

Asset	Mar 2023	Apr 2023	Change
Checking	1,990	953	-1,037
Money Market	69,250	62,718	-6,532
Savings Bonds	224,007	225,628	1,621
Treasury Bills	60,000	60,000	0
CDs	53,792	53,803	11
Brokerage	285,873	313,601	27,728
401k	232,294	249,704	17,410
Roth IRA	224,467	241,614	17,147
IRA	1,185,492	1,236,709	51,217
529 Savings	163,667	167,031	3,364
Total Assets	$2,500,832	$2,611,761	$110,930
			4.44 %

The S&P 500 has been on a strong run, rising 6.41% (+7.02% YTD) since the last update:

(chart courtesy of nasdaq.com)

On the jobs front, the unemployment rate for March dropped to 3.5% with a less-than-expected 236,000 new jobs added. Oil prices rose to the $80 level (from $75) with the surprise announcement of production cuts from OPEC+. Current oil prices translate to a local regular unleaded gasoline price of $3.25 and a heating oil price of $3.35 ($5.85 one year ago!) per gallon at my last fill-up.

On the financial front, I did the usual Fidelity 401k transaction (FSKAX) and Vanguard VTI purchase in my taxable brokerage account. I took the funds from my maturing 13 week T-Bills (4.522%) and rolled $20k into new ones with an investment rate of 4.919%. I also took a distribution from my S Corp and opened a Alliant 5.00% APY 12 month CD to lock in some cash at that rate for the next year. Our 2022 personal tax returns are also finally complete, along with max Roth IRA contributions for Mrs. Frugalson and myself.

Tomorrow is the release date for the March 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) inflation data, which is the final piece needed to determine what the new May 2023 I Bond variable rate will look like. I expect this to be a sub 4% number, so I'm currently on the fence about a April 2023 I Bond purchase. We'll see what the data looks like tomorrow.

As for the non-financial, the weather has finally started to get nice enough to start working on the lawn and gardens. Cleanup has begun, the garden beds are already prepped, and the pre-emergent herbicide has already been applied to the lawn. I'll officially be in my happy place when I can start cutting the grass. :)