Kennie Bukky, co-founder of The Pivot Place
Courtesy of Kennie Bukky
One millennial managed to save enough money to buy his own property at the age of 25, despite the bleak economic situation young people face.
Kennie Bukky, a UK professional under 30, is a compliance specialist and has worked at firms such as KPMG and Visa.
By the age of 25, she had managed to save £50,000 (about $63,000) and get a mortgage on her first home. Her savings and mortgage were verified by CNBC Make It.
Bukky explained that she had no financial help from her parents and instead had to exercise extreme financial caution as inflation, the high cost of living, and soaring house prices continued to intensify. harm people under 30 years of age.
According to a report by CNBC International, only 36.5% of adults say they are better off financially than their parents, and 42.8% say they are worse off. April 2024 Financial Security of Your Money Survey.
And because many young people feel left out of adulthood, some feel increasingly left out terrible expenses deal with stress because they don't believe they will ever be able to own a home or start a family.
Bukky said these concerns were top of mind for her after graduating in 2017.
“I came from a background where we had to be careful with money and money wasn't always plentiful. When it comes to money and my upbringing, there was always this idea that there was a lack of money,” Bukky said in an interview with CNBC Make It.
“I never really had any lessons in money or anything for my parents… I hated the idea of being limited by money and I started learning from a young age that if you save money, you have the freedom to do whatever you want with that money.”
Here's how Bukky, who chose to keep her name and age a secret for privacy reasons, saved five figures in her 20s.
“I was obsessed with saving.”
Bukky felt her forensics degree did not provide enough earning potential, so she turned to the financial industry, starting as an implementation analyst at banking firm RBS, earning £28,000. Even then, she was determined to save money.
One way Bukky has managed to save himself despite the high cost of living is to continue to live with his parents for as long as possible – which is increasingly the case. common trend in recent years as rental costs have increased.
This meant it took her two hours to commute to and from the office most days, but she found the savings were worth the effort.
“I was obsessed with saving at least 50% of my salary,” Bukky said. “So I could have easily moved out, but my priority was to save that money so I could invest and build towards financial freedom and financial independence. I lived at home as long as I could, even though it wasn't the best place.”
She added that saving money on a lower salary developed a saving habit that she still maintains today. And this snowballed into her savings as she was able to save even more money.
When Bukky saved her first £50,000, she used about half of it as a deposit on her first home in 2022 and invested the rest in the stock market.
Live frugally
Bukky combined saving money with frugal living, which only included buying clothes during sales.
However, growing up in the age of social media means that it is easy for young people to fall into conflict with comparative culture and feel pressured to live beyond their means.
“I just understood the ultimate goal for myself. I know what kind of future I want for myself. I don't want a future where I struggle for money or am limited by money. It was much more important than any lavish life,” Bukky said.
However, she decided she could still have fun and budgeted for a cheap vacation with friends and going out to dinner.
She also admitted that when she started earning around £40,000, she got carried away and bought a BMW.
“I fell into that trap for a moment, and then I looked at it and thought: actually, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I need to focus on my goal. So I had the BMW for a few months and then I just sold it because I thought it wasn't enough. I already tried it, so I'll go back to my Ford or something.
Smart millennials now earn over £100,000 a year. She has invested over £30,000 in the stock market, turned her first home into a rental property and is on the way to buying her second property.
Despite this, Bukky found that minimalism still appealed to her.
“There are some things I still wouldn't do right now, like I just don't think it's time to buy a luxury car even though I can totally afford one,” she said.
“I need assets to pay for it, not out of my pocket, because I think that way you get stuck in the rat race of just acquiring all these lavish things because then it will be tied to your income. For me, it is a form of slavery, of being attached to these obligations.”