In the US, 8.2% of people moved money from investment accounts to checking accounts — CNBC
In the United States, an increasing number of people are transferring money from investment accounts to checking accounts to finance spending. Over the three months through April, 8.2% of people did so, compared with 4% in the same period of 2019 and 2.4% in 2015, CNBC reports, citing a study by the JPMorganChase Institute.
The institute analyzed data from more than 20 million anonymized Chase checking accounts. Transfers from investments accounted for 6.8% of spending from these accounts, compared with 3.5% in 2019 and 2.3% in 2015. Researchers noted that the funds come from both brokerage and retirement accounts.
Growth across all groups
The trend is most pronounced among older people and high-income individuals, but the share of those withdrawing money from investments increased across all age and income groups covered by the study. Among the top 10% of Americans by income, 20.3% made net withdrawals from investment accounts in the three months through April 2026. In 2015, this figure was 6.6%. For people with incomes below the median, the share rose from 1.1% to 4.1%.
Among Americans aged 65 and older who are in the top 10% by income, 37.3% made net withdrawals in 2025, compared with 24.5% in 2019. The volume of such transfers was equivalent to 14.9% of their spending, compared with 8% in 2019.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Link between spending and the stock market
The JPMorganChase Institute links this dynamic to the growing role of stocks in household wealth. In the first quarter of 2026, stock assets accounted for nearly one-third of total assets held by US households, approximately twice as much as in the early 2010s.
After falling 19.4% in 2022, the S&P 500 rose 24.2% in 2023, 23.3% in 2024, and 16.4% in 2025. As of September 28, 2026, the index had gained about 12.2%. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta also concluded that US consumption has become more sensitive to stock market fluctuations over the past three decades. They estimate that a hypothetical 25% decline in the S&P 500 could reduce consumption by 3%.
At the same time, it is not only older investors who are withdrawing funds. Among people aged 25 to 44 with incomes below the median, 7.1% made net withdrawals in 2025, compared with 2.9% in 2019. In the same age group, the share of those who are net investors also increased, from 8.5% to 16.6%.
