For years, the safest financial habit people adopted was to save. They put money aside, earned a modest return, and felt reassured by the growing balance in their account. Yet that comfort is starting to fade. Inflation is rising around the world, and households are realizing that saving no longer protects their purchasing power the way it once did. Many are now searching for new ways to keep their long-term finances on track. The growing interest in modern investment tools is part of a broader cultural shift in how people view money and wealth.
Inflation Is Turning Traditional Saving Into a Slow Erosion
The most compelling explanation behind this shift is inflation, which continues to outpace the return on many savings accounts. The IMF’s 2025 outlook projects global inflation around 4.2%, meaning that even respectable deposit rates struggle to hold the value of cash. Prices for food and essentials remain stubbornly high across emerging markets, with United Nations data showing inflation above 5% for core items in 2024.
Many savers have done the math and realized the real long-term impact on their savings. For example, C$1 saved in 2020 is now worth only about C$0.85 in 2025 because average savings rates have failed to keep pace with inflation in Canada over the years.
It’s the same story across the United States: inflation from 2020 to 2025 is estimated to be about 25.2 %, meaning that $1 in 2020 has the same purchasing power as about $1.25 in 2025.
Similarly, in the euro area, a cumulative price increase of about 22.8 % between 2020 and 2025 means €100 in 2020 is equivalent to €122.82 in purchasing power today.
These examples show clearly how inflation affects savings growth. People do not need to be economists to understand when their money is treading water.
Everyday Investors Are Changing Tactics
The second force driving people away from traditional savings accounts is the growing recognition that bank deposits alone cannot deliver the growth needed for long-term financial goals. Today’s investment options offer greater potential and far more accessible entry points than ever before.
Exchange-traded funds have played a major role in this shift in mindset. Their low fees, broad diversification, and simple structure make them far less intimidating for an inexperienced investor than individual stock picking. Investors who might once have put everything into a single savings product now spread their money across global equity ETFs, government bond ETFs, or specialized funds linked to technology or sustainability. For many first-timers, ETFs are a natural halfway step between saving and riskier investment methods.
Forex trading is also getting popular, particularly across Asian markets where currency movements reflect regional growth stories and local macro trends. While forex is not suitable for beginners, the possibility of using a regulated forex trading app for smaller trade sizes has made it accessible to many to test the waters. People are exploring forex as another avenue to grow wealth in an environment where cash loses value quickly.
At the same time, equity markets have become easier to enter. Opening a brokerage account once required paperwork and a lot of patience. Now, digital platforms verify identity in minutes and offer tools that explain risk, automate investments, and help create long-term strategies. As a result, millions who previously kept everything in cash are building small portfolios and adding to them monthly, treating investing as a routine financial habit rather than a high-stakes decision.
Ultimately, this migration away from savings accounts is not driven by a sudden appetite for risk. It is the recognition that the financial world has expanded. When savers see that they can own slices of global companies, track entire indexes with a single ETF, or explore currency markets with modest amounts, the appeal of a savings account fades.
Slow Growth Is Forcing Households To Look for Better Prospects
Inflation is not the only pressure point. Slow growth makes future earnings and savings less predictable, and households recognize that cash alone may not bridge the gap.
The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report says the ongoing decade may deliver the weakest global growth since the 1960s, averaging around 2.5% a year. The IMF and United Nations echo this warning, predicting slow expansion in 2025.
Slow growth comes with big consequences. It means families saving for a child’s education end up with a smaller college fund than planned. It forces people caring for aging parents to dip deeper into their income because their savings aren’t growing fast enough. It also means anyone hoping to retire on time needs to either save more, work longer, or take on higher-return investments.
This explains the growing interest in private market access vehicles as well. State Street reports that more than half of institutional investors expect retail-friendly structures to represent at least half of private market inflows by 2027. People want options that smooth volatility and potentially generate higher long-term returns.
Savers Are Becoming Investors
The shift from saving to investing is driven by necessity, access, and a clearer understanding of how money behaves over time. Younger investors see markets as part of their personal financial portfolio. And most people now accept that if their money sits idle for too long, it will not keep pace with their needs.
You do not need to become a full-time investor to adapt to the changing world. You only need a plan, one that blends the security of saving with the long-term growth that investing can provide. This is the direction global households are moving in, and the tools available online make it easier than ever to join them.
