Research

More U.S. households are supporting spending by drawing on investment wealth

September 17, 2026

Household stock holdings hit all-time highs in late 2025, making up about a third of all household assets as investment accounts have become a more active part of everyday financial life rather than a place where wealth just sits. JPMC Institute analysis tracks the money people are moving from investment accounts into checking, where it becomes available to spend.

Topline: Since 2019, individuals are twice as likely to move money from investment to checking accounts. These investment withdrawals now fund roughly 7 percent of total spending, nearly double their 2019 share, with growth across every income and age group.

This page provides a summary of key insights (3 min read). You can read the full report with additional figures and methodologies here.

Role of retirees: More than one in three top earners 65 and over now draw on investment accounts, up from roughly one in four in 2019, and those flows are now covering about 15 percent of their spending.

High earners and older individuals have seen the biggest increases among groups using investment wealth to support spending.

Figure 1:

The grouped bar chart shows inflows withdrawn from investment accounts as a share of annual spending by age and income, comparing 2019 (blue) and 2025 (orange). The horizontal axis lists nine clusters spanning three age groups (25–44, 45–64, and 65 and older) each split into three income groups (Bottom 50 percent, 50–90 percent, and Top 10 percent), and the vertical axis is the share of spending in percent. Every group increased from 2019 to 2025: for ages 25–44 the values moved from 0.8 to 1.9 percent (Bottom 50 percent), 1.7 to 3.5 percent (50–90 percent), and 3.9 to 6.8 percent (Top 10 percent); for ages 45–64 from 1.6 to 2.7, 3.1 to 5.1, and 5.3 to 9.2 percent; and for ages 65 and older from 3.7 to 5.3, 7.0 to 10.8, and 8.0 to 14.9 percent. The highest bar is the 65-and-older Top 10 percent group in 2025 at 14.9 percent, which also shows the largest gain of about 6.9 percentage points, while the lowest is the 25–44 Bottom 50 percent group in 2019 at 0.8 percent.

The income split: Nearly one in five top earners now tap investment accounts to fund spending on a quarterly basis, compared with roughly one in 25 of those below the median income.

For high earners, drawing from investment assets covered more than 10 percent of spending in 2026, up from under 4 percent in 2015.

Figure 2:

The line chart displays cash withdrawn from investment accounts as a share of spending, measured monthly from January 2015 through April 2026 as the dollar-weighted ratio of trailing three-month net inflows to spending. The horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is the share of spending in percent. Four series are shown by income group: Bottom 50 percent (blue), the 50th–90th percentile (green), Top 10 percent (orange), and the Full Sample (grey dashed), with the grey shaded bands marking S&P 500 downturns greater than 15 percent. All series trend upward, with the Top 10 percent highest, while the Bottom 50 percent remains lowest.

Takeaway: Increasing two-way cash flows—with younger individuals leading growth in investing and older individuals leading growth in tapping those assets—suggest a deepening role for investing in an individual's financial health across the entire lifecycle.

Read the full report to see how age and income patterns are reshaping the link between investing and spending.

Authors

Chris Wheat

Chris Wheat

President, JPMorganChase Institute

George Eckerd

George Eckerd

Wealth and Markets Research Director, JPMorganChase Institute

Melissa O’Brien

Melissa O’Brien

Research Vice President for Wealth and Markets, JPMorganChase Institute

Media Contact

Shelby Wagenseller, Shelby.Wagenseller@jpmchase.com

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