How a 28-year-old stayed home and saved six figures

While many of his peers were starting new lives and leases in big cities, Lamar Mangal chose a different — and increasingly popular — path: to move back in with his father in Milton Keynes, England.

"I was pretty much just in the mindset of saving as much money as possible," the 28-year-old account manager for an IT company says of the decision — one he says has enabled him to put up to 80% of his salary into savings and investments. Mangal saved around 1,000 pounds ($1,323) a month when he lived with his father and now regularly saves up to 1,400 pounds. Having built a six-figure net worth, he says he's on track to retire in his 50s.

While the rising cost of living has driven many young people to do as Mangal did, he cites his father's own challenges getting on the property ladder as his inspiration to save. "I thought I'd never want to be in a position where I wouldn't be able to afford a house," he says. Although Mangal has since moved in with his fiancée following his dad's relocation to the U.S., he says he'd still be living at home now if he could.

The wider trend

Around the world, more young adults are opting to live in their family homes longer as soaring rents and shaky job markets make buying property difficult. A recent EY study of 10,000 people aged 18 to 34 across 10 countries found that an average of 60% of young people still live with parents or caregivers. In Korea — where the percentage skews higher, at 78% — these young people are collectively referred to as the "Kangaroo Tribe," so called because they have yet to leave their parents' home, or pouch. In the U.S., where the average is 46%, they're dubbed "boomerang kids."

Alex King, founder of the London-based financial education company Generation Money, says that although living at home has become more normalized as a way of supercharging savings, it's not without risk. "A lot of people have a plan to maybe live with their parents for a couple of years, save some money to then move out again or try and buy somewhere," he says. "But suddenly, once you are saving that money, it's very difficult to then just give up that lifestyle."

Takeaways

- Consistency matters when it comes to saving. "It doesn't matter how much you have," Mangal says. "Just having the mindset at the very beginning that you're going to be consistent and stick it through, I think, is the biggest thing."

- Balance is important. While saving aggressively helped Mangal reach his goals, he's since made sure to enjoy himself, too. "I don't want to look back and then think, a whole decade I was living like this when I didn't really have to be as intense."

- Beware of lifestyle creep. King cautions against getting too used to the lifestyle and luxuries of living at home with parents, noting that the transition to paying rent or a mortgage will take getting used to.

- Take a load off your parents. Try to contribute in some way, with groceries or utilities. This builds healthy financial habits and a good foundation for when it comes time to move out.