More Americans shift money from checking and savings to accounts with investment income, study says

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON AP New research finds that more Americans are shifting their money from checking and savings accounts into financial vehicles that pay an expenditure income a trend that helps to explain the resilience of the U S financial system after a bout of high inflation and newest uncertainty due to tariffs The analysis by JPMorganChase Institute examined the accounts of million households and identified that people s total cash reserves are increasing when including new amounts going into brokerage accounts money sphere funds and certificates of deposit to assess people s well-being Related Articles Microsoft releases urgent fix for Sharepoint vulnerability being used in global cyberattacks Ford recalls more than Bronco Sport Escape vehicles due to fuel injector issue Wall Street drifts around its records ahead of a big week for profit reports Harvard is hoping court rules Trump administration s B research cuts were illegal Alaska Airlines resumes operations after tech outage grounds all flights Inflation-adjusted cash balances in checking and savings accounts remain low with a flat-growth trajectory but since the middle of total cash reserves have been increasing and approaching historical expansion trends once the additional accounts are included the analysis mentioned Families across numerous income bands are now seeing a turnaround in their total cash reported Chris Wheat president of the institute Wheat explained it had been hard to square the circle of consumer spending staying strong despite the lack of development in checking and savings accounts an issue that can now be explained by people in a higher-interest rate atmosphere shifting more money into accounts that yield venture returns He mentioned people appear to be using the other accounts to manage their cash rather than entirely making long-term investments Wheat cautioned however that the trend might be short term and that the institute doesn t have a basis yet as to whether it will continue The analysis also detected that households with incomes generally lower than had their total cash balances increase at an annual rate of to The lowest income quartile tend to have checking and savings account balance of just over while the median balances of the highest income quartile are above