Thanks to Covid, inflation, and the uncertainly in our world, lots of folks are hanging on to cash.  They’re not putting it in the bank or spending it on the grandkids.  It’s piling up under a mattress or in their underwear drawer.  How do we know that?  Because 100 dollar bills are  disappearing from circulation, and the government has had to  print more of them just to keep up.  One out of five people are now stashing cash at home.   As a middle aged parent with three kids, saving cash  would not have been possible for me.  Although I avoided credit card debt, we lived very frugally. Some years, even going with out a/c in the summertime.  And now, many parents are struggling just to put food on the table.  But somewhere out there are people with extra money.  The question is, who is stashing all the cash?

It began with the Covid stimulus deal.  A lot of middle income people of all ages received money they really didn’t need.   Not everyone lost their jobs, and well educated people were often able to work from home.  Although many seniors are living on nothing but social security, some aren’t.  Those who have pensions,  401ks,  and mortgage free homes saw their bank statements grow larger during the pandemic.  They were spending less because they weren’t going much of anywhere, buying new clothes, or eating out.  And now, those same people, are getting scared about what’s happening in the world.

Putin is threating nuclear war.  People  don’t feel safe anymore, due to increased crime, political upheaval, climate change.  Life isn’t as simple as it used to be.  The reality is that nature, itself, can upend our lives with flooding and tornadoes.  You could be stuck in a situation where the banks are closed, and there’s nothing much in the freezer.  Right now, my cupboards are bulging with canned goods. .  At the beginning of the pandemic, I began buying two of everything instead of one. Two cans of tomatoes and green beans.  Two packs of rice, maybe three.  It wasn’t a conscious effort, instead just something instinctive.

And now, with the midterm elections, people are feeling scared.  The war in Ukraine could result in WWIII.  Will inflation  get worse?  Maybe, maybe not.  Can they  count on a change of political parties to make our lives better?  The solution,  for some, is cash.  It’s solid and unchanging.  You can see it, feel it, smell it, and use it to buy things.  Conventional wisdom tells us that hoarding cash is a bad idea.  Due to inflation, it’s rapidly losing it’s value.  It could be stolen, or lost in a fire.  Thieves could rob you.  And yet, money is still disappearing from circulation.  Who is stashing all the cash?