Moving back in with your parents as an adult is becoming increasingly common — and there’s even a name for it: “boomerang kids.” In an April 2026 survey from Thrivent, nearly half of parents with a child between 18 and 35 said their child had moved back home at some point. And for many, it’s less about being backed into a corner and more about playing the long game: 55% said the move was financially necessary, while another 27% said it wasn’t necessary but offered financial benefits.
“Adult children moving back in with their parents has shifted from stigma to strategy,” Gene Elder, a financial consultant at Thrivent, tells CNBC Select.
For many people, moving back home can be a deliberate financial move. If you’re living with your parents (or considering it), here’s how to use the arrangement to make meaningful financial progress.
How to make boomerang living pay off
Explore savings options to help your money go further.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
When moving back home, it’s key to have a plan.
“The biggest mistake is treating the money saved on rent and other living expenses as extra spending money instead of using it to strengthen their financial position,” Elder says. Without a clear goal, he adds, the financial runway that boomerang living creates can quietly disappear.
Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma, sees the same pattern. Her fix is to work backward from a number. If you want to save $30,000 toward a down payment in two years, for example, do the math on what that requires monthly, so you know exactly what to aim for.
The takeaway: Decide what you’re saving for, whether that’s paying off debt, a down payment or just building a cushion, before you settle into the routine of living at home again.
“Pay yourself” the rent you’re not paying
If you’re not paying rent, or paying less than you used to, both Elder and Alev recommend treating that gap the same way you’d treat a bill.
“If you’re saving $1,000 a month on rent, consider automatically directing a meaningful portion of that amount to savings, debt reduction or investing,” Elder says. He frames it as continuing to “pay yourself” what you would’ve paid in rent, just redirected toward your goals instead.
Alev echoes the same approach. “If you’re no longer paying rent, I like the idea of still treating housing as a monthly expense, except now you’re ‘paying’ yourself,” she says. She notes you don’t have to save the full amount, especially if you’re chipping in on household expenses but setting aside what you can consistently is what actually moves the needle.
The easiest way to make this stick: automate it. Set up a recurring transfer the same day rent would’ve been due, so the money’s gone before you have a chance to spend it.
Park the extra savings in a high-yield savings account
Once you’ve decided how much to redirect each month, the next question is where to put it. Both experts point to a high-yield savings account as a solid option for money you’re setting aside for a near-term goal.
With a high-yield savings account, you earn an above-average savings rate and have easy access to your cash when you need it.
If you want to earn a high rate without worrying about a minimum balance, EverBank Performance Savings offers a competitive APY with no balance or direct deposit requirements. Or if you’d rather keep your checking and savings in one place, Axos ONE Savings and Checking lets you earn interest on both, though you’ll need to maintain a $1,500 daily balance and $1,500 in monthly direct deposits to unlock the top rate. And if saving doesn’t come naturally to you, Varo’s high-yield savings account can help automate it with its “Save Your Pay” feature, which transfers a percentage of your paycheck straight to savings, while “Save Your Change” rounds up your everyday purchases and deposits the difference.
EverBank Performance℠ SavingsAnnual Percentage Yield (APY)Minimum balanceMonthly feeMaximum transactions
Up to 20 external transfers per day, with a maximum of 10 transfers from a linked external account into your EverBank accounts and 10 transfers from EverBank to external accounts. Up to 50 total external transfers per month.
Excessive transactions feeOverdraft feesChecking accountATM cardProsEarns a competitive APY with no minimum balance.Free ATM card and no ATM feesAxos ONE® savings and checking bundle
Axos Bank® is a Member FDIC.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
Axos ONE Checking: 0.00% APY base rate and 0.51% APY promotional rate; Axos ONE Savings: 1.00% APY base rate and 4.21% APY promotional rate
Minimum balance
None. To earn promotional rates, monthly direct deposits of at least $1,500 and daily balance greater than $1,500
Monthly feeATM network
Over 95,000 fee-free ATMs
Overdraft feeProsCombines checking and savings in one account, making it easy to manage your money without juggling multiple banks.Promotional APYs available on both checking and savings accounts, so your everyday spending money can earn interest too.No minimum deposit, no monthly fees and no overdraft fees, so nothing is cutting into your balance.Access to over 95,000 fee-free ATMs nationwide, one of the largest networks available.Get your paycheck early with direct deposit and benefit from expanded FDIC insurance for added protection.Can link external accounts for added flexibility in managing your money.ConsOnline-only bank with no physical branches, so all support is handled digitally or by phone.Base APYs are low without meeting the promotional requirements, so the account works best if you can consistently hit the direct deposit and balance thresholds.Promotional rates require at least $1,500 in monthly direct deposits and a daily balance above $1,500 to qualify.Varo Savings Account
Bank Account Services are provided by Varo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
Start earning 1.00% APY, then qualify to earn 3.75% APY on your balance up to $5,000.00 by receiving direct deposit(s) totaling $1,000 or more; and end the month with a positive balance in all your Varo accounts. Balances above $5,000 earn 1.00% APY.
Minimum balanceMonthly feeMaximum transactions
Up to 6 free withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle
Excessive transactions feeOverdraft feeOffer checking account?Offer ATM card?
Yes, if have a Varo Bank Account
ProsTwo built-in automatic savings tools, Save Your Pay and Save Your Change, make it easy to grow your savings without any extra effort.Earn a strong APY on balances up to $5,000 when you meet the qualifying requirements, with a base rate available even if you don’t.No minimum deposit, no monthly fees, and no overdraft fees, so nothing is standing between you and your savings goals.Option to add a Varo checking account with ATM access, keeping your banking and savings in one place.ConsThe higher APY requires at least $1,000 in monthly direct deposits and a positive end-of-month balance to qualify, so it works best as your primary bank.Cash deposits are only available through third-party services, which charge a fee, making it less convenient if you frequently deposit cash.Know what to tackle first
Once you’re saving consistently, the next question is where that money should go. Both experts recommend the same general order: build up a cushion first, then tackle high-interest debt, then shift to longer-term goals like a home down payment or investing.
Elder notes there’s real room for improvement here. According to Thrivent’s survey, only 29% of young adults have saved enough to cover three to six months of expenses. “I generally recommend starting with an emergency fund if you don’t already have one,” he says, since it’s what makes everything else possible without going into debt if something unexpected comes up.
Alev frames it as a foundation issue. “To achieve longer-term goals like buying a home, you’ll need to have a healthy financial foundation in place,” she says. Without that cushion, or with high-interest debt still hanging around, progress toward bigger goals tends to stall since interest charges can cancel out whatever headway you’re making elsewhere.
If you’re starting from scratch, aim to set aside three to six months of essential expenses, including rent, groceries and utilities, before shifting your focus to debt or bigger goals.
A budgeting app can help you keep trackKnow when you’re actually ready to move out
There’s no set timeline for how long boomerang living should last. Both experts say the better measure is where you stand financially.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all timeline, but I encourage people to focus on financial readiness rather than the calendar,” Elder says. Before moving out, he says it helps to have a stable income, an emergency fund, manageable debt and enough saved to cover moving costs and future housing expenses.
“The goal isn’t moving out as quickly as possible,” he says. “It’s to do so with a financial foundation that makes it less likely you’ll need to move back again.”
Alev ties it back to whatever goal brought you home in the first place. “I would focus less on a specific timeline and more on what you wanted to accomplish by moving home in the first place, and whether you’re financially prepared for what comes next,” she says.
Beyond hitting that goal, she recommends having a realistic sense of what your budget will look like once you’re back on your own, with enough room to comfortably cover expenses and still save something each month.
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At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Gene Elder, a financial consultant at Thrivent, and Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma.
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
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