i.e. the few middle/upper middle class people who choose to live within their means, keep a rainy day fund, save for a vacation instead of putting it on a card, etc.

I guess I'll just hoard ammo and gold bars instead of building savings. At any given time at least one of those is in high demand.

> i.e. the few middle/upper middle class people who choose to live within their means, keep a rainy day fund, save for a vacation instead of putting it on a card, etc.

You're describing someone that's good at managing money, which runs counter to the idea of having a big pile of uninvested cash.

I'm describing someone who values stability and liquidity over returns.

Is there any circumstance where you need more than a couple month's income to be in liquid form, without notice? Inflation doesn't have a major impact until you're building up huge amounts.

And if you would ever actually consider gold for stability, stocks should be no problem at all.

Those same people should be saving towards a pension, which should be invested in the stock market.

Cash nearly always loses to inflation, that's why you're only supposed to keep medium/short term money in the bank, longer term saving should be done elsewhere.