There are a lot more people than you think that simply don't invest their money, instead they keep it in savings accounts. My aunt is one of those people. She got a large inheritance and basically kept it in a savings account for 20 years. My mom got the same inheritance and bought investment properties with it and now its worth 10x. I think it comes down to the fact that a lot of people are risk averse or feel that investments are too complicated for them.

10x? I'm not familiar with real estate. How does one earn 10x in that time frame. Even with a price to rent ratio of 1 to 15 and assuming housing prices double over that period, you still aren't at 10x, and that doesn't include maintenance, taxes, closing fees, etc.

Not too hard if you buy California real estate with 10% down in the 80s.

Instead of just buying an asset and then selling it, you can also buy an asset, use it to make money while you own it, and then also sell it.

Even if you're risk averse, a limited time, guaranteed rate investment available in most banks will give you more than the checking account rate. (as long as you're happy to lock the money for 6+ months)

But I think the opposite is also true for mortgages. So it's relevant for many people.

At least where I live, they increased the mortgage rate quickly when the government increased the rate, but I still haven't seen much of the decrease. Only way to get it is to threaten to switch or actually switch bank. A passive mortgage lender is getting ripped off.

Personally I couldn’t care less about the interest rates on my bank accounts. The money I have there is money that I intend to use the coming years, e.g. for reoccurring expenses or for expenses related to my house. Any money that I don’t intend to use the coming ~5 years I place into index funds.

When interest rates are higher you can get a decent return. I remember getting some decent rates from banks in early 2000s. Not amazing but maybe like 4 to 5%, IIRC

edit: I was able to find 4% savings account from Wamu and 5% cd.