Jaspreet Singh: Millionaires Are Preserving Wealth by Making an Unusual Money Move
The 2026 World Wealth Report by Capgemini found that high-net-worth individuals are keeping 24% of their wealth in cash. That’s more than what most financial experts recommend.
“We’re seeing more and more high-net-worth individuals sitting on cash, keeping this cash in places where it's not generating any return,” noted Jaspreet Singh in a YouTube video.
Unusual Money Move
Sitting on cash doesn’t just come with the opportunity cost of not generating returns. It actively loses money to inflation every year — a deep loss, given that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported inflation surging to 4.2% in May.
“If you put $100 in your back pocket today and you left it there, that $100 is going to have less buying power a year from now,” Singh added.
Millionaires aren’t just holding more cash than recommended, but making other more conservative money moves. Jarad Stolz of Diversified Insurance Brokers pointed to the surge in annuities.
“High-net-worth individuals bought record high annuities last year," he said.
Indeed, annuity sales jumped 7% in 2025, according to a LIMRA report, accelerating to 14% by the fourth quarter.
Why Are Millionaires Holding More Cash?
The wealthy see real risks, uncertainty and instability in today’s economy. That drives them to leave more cash sitting on the sidelines, ready to deploy when valuations drop.
“Because when markets go down — not if, but when — you want to be able to come in and buy,” Singh said in another YouTube video.
Political and regulatory whiplash, wars and geopolitical instability have also spooked investors. And individual investors aren’t the only ones who worry about a downturn, either. Investment giant J.P. Morgan predicts a 35% chance of recession in 2026, and other Wall Street banks put those odds between 40% to 50%, according to Forbes.
Still, some analysts see a more benign explanation for why millionaires are sitting on cash rather than investing more of it. Kaine Arkinson of Shepherd Commercial said high-net-worth wealth rose over 8.7% in 2025 to a new record $98.3 trillion, referencing the Capgemini report.
“The macro economy is making asset owners increasingly cash-rich, more often than they can actually deploy it safely. It isn't hoarding or caution, it is a case of overflow of liquidity," according to Arkinson.
How Much Cash Should You Hold?
Most financial experts recommend keeping your cash holdings relatively small.
For example, U.S. Bank recommends most people keep 2% to 10% of their net worth in cash. Most of that should be your emergency fund, that you can tap instantly in a crisis.
Singh himself recommends keeping three to 12 months’ worth of living expenses in your cash emergency fund, as he outlined in this YouTube video.
There are exceptions when it makes sense to hold more. When some people first retire, they hold several years’ living expenses in cash, to get past the dangerous early years of retirement and sequence of returns risk.
As a general rule however, money left in cash is money that will suffer guaranteed losses to inflation and the opportunity cost of lost investments returns.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.