Podcast Host Warns Cash Hoarders: Sitting Idle Could Cost You 12% Per Year

Keeping large balances in checking accounts reduces real purchasing power as inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target. Core PCE and CPI readings show prices rising with only partial normalization, creating ongoing annual erosion for idle cash. A dollar held for years without yield loses spending power repeatedly while consumer prices continue to climb. Market returns show the opportunity cost of waiting in cash, with broad equity exposure delivering substantial gains over one, five, and ten years. Volatility is described as relatively normal, with the VIX in a typical range and below prior spikes, suggesting fear is not extreme.

"“It's never been more important” to be in the market so “your money is growing with you, your net worth, everything you own is trending up and to the right by 8, 10, 12, 14% on an annualized basis in the markets.” His warning lands at an awkward moment for cash hoarders. Inflation has cooled from its 2022 peak, but it has not gone away, and idle dollars are quietly losing ground every month."

"The Consumer Price Index sits at 332.4 as of April 2026, up 0.6% from a month earlier, and the Fed's preferred gauge tells the same story. Core PCE has climbed from 125.79 in May 2025 to 129.28 in March 2026, with the most recent monthly reading up 0.7%. That percentile rank, the 90.9th, tells you everything: prices are not normalizing toward the Fed's 2% target as quickly as anyone hoped."

"Even a modest annual erosion compounds. A dollar that sits in a non-yielding account for a decade does not just lose a sliver of value; it loses real spending power year after year while consumer prices keep climbing. You can verify the trajectory yourself on the St. Louis Fed's Core PCE series."

"The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY | SPY Price Prediction) is up 23.35% over the past year, 76.68% over five years, and 257.06% over the past decade. Even with this month's pullback (SPY is down 0.6% on the week to $733.73), the long-run figure validates the 8% to 14% annualized range Hankwitz cited. Volatility, the usual excuse for sitting things out, is not extreme."

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