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

WASHINGTON AP New research finds that more Americans are shifting their money from checking and savings accounts into financial vehicles that pay an venture income a trend that helps to explain the resilience of the U S market 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 uncovered that people s total cash reserves are increasing when including new amounts going into brokerage accounts money sector funds and certificates of deposit to assess people s well-being 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 improvement trends once the additional accounts are included the analysis stated Families across a large number of income bands are now seeing a turnaround in their total cash declared Chris Wheat president of the institute Wheat stated it had been hard to square the circle of consumer spending staying strong despite the lack of improvement in checking and savings accounts an issue that can now be explained by people in a higher-interest rate habitat shifting more money into accounts that yield financing returns He mentioned people appear to be using the other accounts to manage their cash rather than just 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 located 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