A 2-3% yearly loss in purchasing power adds up; at current inflation levels, $10,000 that sits in a checking account will be worth the equivalent of $8800 today

A 2-3% yearly loss in purchasing power adds up; at current inflation levels, $10,000 that sits in a checking account will be worth the equivalent of $8800 today in 5 years. Losing ~20% of your banked value per decade that it sits uninvested is substantial. It'll be worse if inflation is higher.