{"id":413941,"date":"2024-09-05T07:31:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T07:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=413941"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"New-study-52-of-Americans-say-cash-is-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/New-study-52-of-Americans-say-cash-is-king\/","title":{"rendered":"New study: 52% of Americans say &#8216;cash is king&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(BPT) &#8211; As digital wallets and contactless payments become more popular, 52% of Americans say cash is king, and nearly a third carry it every day (27%), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empower.com\/the-currency\/money\/counting-on-cash-research\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">according to new Empower research<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>49% of Americans feel safer holding cash versus other investments.<\/li>\n<li>42% of people say market uncertainty and the threat of a recession is the top reason for holding money in cash.<\/li>\n<li>Gen Z is the generation most likely to use cryptocurrency instead of cash (34%).<\/li>\n<li>2 in 5 Americans say they never pay with a check.<\/li>\n<li>41% of Gen Zers use digital payment platforms more often than cash, compared to 27% overall.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly a third of Americans (29%) are cashing in on using rewards program points every month as a form of payment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Cash in the balance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to more than half of Americans (52%), &#8220;cash is king&#8221; \u2014 a significant increase from the 17% who reported the same last year. Another 27% carry cash with them every day. This trend is particularly strong among older generations, with Baby Boomers (42%) and Gen Xers (31%) more likely than Millennials (23%) and Gen Zers (24%) to carry cash daily. Nearly a third of Americans (32%) generally keep at least $100 in cash on hand.<\/p>\n<p>Half of Americans (49%) also feel safer holding cash versus other investments. Gen Xers (57%) are the most likely to feel this way, compared with 41% of Gen Zers. Market uncertainty and the threat of a recession are the <a id=\"_anchor_1\" href=\"#_msocom_1\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/a>top reasons people stash money in cash, as noted by 44% of Gen Xers, 42% of Millennials, and 39% of both Gen Zers and Baby Boomers.<\/p>\n<p>About a third of Americans (31%) say cash will reign supreme indefinitely vs. other forms of payment, though not everyone has the same idea of what &#8220;cash&#8221; means. People define it in the following ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bills and coins (98%)<\/li>\n<li>Traditional savings accounts (24%)<\/li>\n<li>High-yield cash accounts (18%)<\/li>\n<li>Checks (13%)<\/li>\n<li>Money market accounts (13%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Cashing in<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to market volatility or fear of a recession, nearly a third cited regional bank failures as a key motivator for keeping more cash on hand, while over a quarter noted cybersecurity concerns (26%).<\/p>\n<p>According to Empower Personal Dashboard\u2122 data as of July 2024, here are the average cash allocations for financial portfolios by decade:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"1\" width=\"458\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p><strong>Age<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p><strong>Cash Allocation<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p><strong>Median Cash Balance<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>20s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>30.3%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p>$43,504<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>30s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>26.9%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p>$62,357<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>40s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>25.3%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p>$82,853<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>50s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>25.4%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p>$104,207<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>60s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>28.6%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p>$117,084<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>70s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"144\">\n<p>35.3%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"170\">\n<p>$128,353<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>The median cash balance for users of the Empower Personal Dashboard\u2122 as of July 2024 is $71,255, making up more than 27% of users&#8217; overall portfolio allocation. That&#8217;s an increase of 15% in cash holdings over the same time period last year ($65,563 in 2023). While 48% of respondents prefer to invest in the stock market, 29% say they prefer to keep all their money in cash.<\/p>\n<p><strong>New money moves<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most generations are exploring other payment, savings and investment vehicles. Gen Z, in particular, stands out in its adoption of cryptocurrencies, with 34% using them (the highest among all age groups).<\/p>\n<p>While traditional payment methods like debit and credit cards are the most common, digital payment platforms are gaining traction. Overall, 1 in 4 Americans (26%) say they are using digital payments weekly. The method is particularly popular among younger users: 41% of Gen Zers use digital payment platforms more often than cash, compared to 27% overall.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly a third of Americans (29%) are cashing in on using rewards program points every month and a quarter swipe their credit card daily to pay for something (24%).<\/p>\n<p>High-yield savings accounts, stocks, and bonds are top savings vehicles across all age groups. When selecting a savings account, Americans prioritize the following features:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Low or no fees (72%)<\/li>\n<li>Interest rate (62%)<\/li>\n<li>Ease of online and mobile access (56%)<\/li>\n<li>Account security (52%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Visit <strong>The Currency\u2122<\/strong> to read Empower\u2019s full research report, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.empower.com\/the-currency\/money\/counting-on-cash-research\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong><em>Counting on cash.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Methodology:<\/strong> Empower commissioned a survey of 1,009 American adults on July 3, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>RO3758173-0824<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/77642d5dfd09d092f076aeeb3e85373d.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><br \/>New study: 52% of Americans say &#8216;cash is king&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(BPT) &#8211; As digital wallets and contactless payments become more popular, 52% of Americans say&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}