Americans are holding more cash in their bank accounts than they have at any other point over the last two decades, a new study found. The average checking account balance reached $4,436 at the end of last year, nearly double the average balance of $2,100 seen over the last 25 years, according to a new report from Moebs Services, an economic research firm. Prior to 2003, checking account balances pretty much hovered around $2,000, according to the report. Why the change? The growing cash piles show Americans may not feel any better about their finances six years after the market crash despite the fact that stocks are soaring and the unemployment rate is down, says Mike Moebs, economist and chief executive of the firm. If people were feeling better about the economy and confident in their jobs, they would be spending that cash, Moebs says. That's what happened during the boom years leading up to the last recession, when the average checking account balance bottomed out at $778 in 2007. "The consumer says times are good, the next paycheck is just around the corner" and they spend more money, Moebs says. "It’s just human nature." Instead, many consumers without jobs have stopped looking for work. Those who are working may be thinking about how they probably won't get a big raise any time soon. In the meantime, they cut back on shopping, going out to eat and traveling so that they can afford their groceries, gas and utility bills, which are getting more expensive. As Moebs wrote in the report:
Democracy Dies in Darkness