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Interest rates have been falling but, so far, consumers aren’t budging from their money market accounts. Take Thrivent, which typically averages $700 million in money markets. Currently, the Minneapolis-based financial services firm, which handles funds for 2 million clients, is sitting on $3.3 billion in money market funds.
CEO Terry Rasmussen believes the numbers tell how consumers are feeling in this moment. Put simply, she said, “they’re stockpiling cash.” That reflects a national trend — money market funds were at a record high of $7.5 trillion at the end of October, according to Crane Data.
Money markets were a safe bet when interest rates hit 5% — particularly at a time when just about everything else felt uncertain. The “wall of cash” that analysts have been predicting would flood into the stock market once the Fed started cutting rates hasn’t happened — yet.
“I think it will take a couple of cuts to get people off the sidelines,” Thrivent CFO David Royal told me, days after talking to my colleague Patrick Kennedy about the factors that played into the organization’s strong year. He predicted the first quarter of 2026 is when we’ll see significant movement toward higher-risk investments, especially among consumers with a near-term need, like saving for college or a new home. (Worth a listen: The Wall Street Journal this week launched a four-part series about alternative economic indicators on its What’s News podcast.)
Consumers may be nervous about investment risks, but that’s not expected to prevent them from spending this holiday season. The National Retail Federation’s 2025 holiday forecast predicts spending will surpass $1 trillion for the first time. Thrivent’s Royal isn’t surprised.
“Sentiment is terrible, but spending is fine,” Royal said. He expects that to continue through the holiday season. “I don’t think we’ll see a big slow down. People might shop early. But people don’t always do what they say, and that’s driven by the fact that real wages are positive. Consumers will spend when they can.”
Exec Moves
In the three weeks since she was named president of Xcel Energy – Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, Bria Shea has spent much of her time out in the field, visiting distribution centers and talking to operators. After 18 years with the utility, most recently leading government affairs and regulatory strategy, she knows the business. But this is different, Shea said when we spoke recently. “There’s a broader community aspect to being president. More relationship building.”
