Sometimes to return to the simplest considerations you have to equip yourself for long and complicated tours. To remind themselves that the first rule of saving money is not to spend it, very young Americans have started making videos on Tik Tok. Seen one, seen all the others. How can you be sure that at the end of the month there will be money left for bills and groceries? Simple. First step, withdraw the necessary amount from an ATM and in cash. Second step, put the banknotes aside, preferably separate and with a clear indication of where they will be spent. In the era of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, market collapse and recession, according to Priya Malani, founder of Stash Wealth, a financial advisory service for young professionals, “holding a banknote in your hand is really reassuring”.
Will be. The trend is called cash stuffing and the videos – together with the testimonies of the very young – are numerous. But is putting savings in plastic bags a good investment? It seems not. For Jason Howell, professor of wealth management at American University “2023 is probably the worst time to keep your cash at home, because it does not earn any interest and depreciates”.
Will it be an assist to supporters of cash? Absolutely not. In the United States for years now the trend has been that of the progressive decline of cash and the constant growth of payments by card and on smartphones. According to a study by the Pew Search Center, 41% of Americans did not make a single cash purchase in a week in 2022, compared to 24% in 2015.