Take it from a guy who made more than $30 million last year: Low-income consumers are “living on the edge.”

So says Charlie Scharf, chief executive of the Wells Fargo bank, citing data that indicate most American consumers are spending down their ready cash. For many, the rainy day they’ve been dreading has arrived.

A recent survey shows the share of consumers living paycheck to paycheck rose sharply this summer, and just 25% of U.S. adults say they are better off financially than a year ago. Credit scores continue to fall.

The financial markets have remained resilient. But investors are stockpiling gold and favoring defensive stocks that do well in hard times, even as they bet on a huge payoff from artificial intelligence that may not materialize anytime soon.

The labor market is espe

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