Twenty-five year old Nivea Lally makes a two-hour, 43 kilometre commute from Sydney’s Kellyville to Pyrmont every day. It’s the price she’s willing to pay to live at home rent-free in a bid to save up for her future.

She’s not alone; more than one-fifth of Australians aged between 25 and 29 still live at home with their parents, according to new research by comparison website finder.com.au.

That figure doubles for younger Australians, aged 20 to 24.

The survey of more than 2000 people — across the country and age groups — found the average age children should start paying board is at 19.

“It seems to be the sweet spot nationally. That’s the age kids go to uni, start their first part-time job and generate income and become young adults,” said Graham Cooke, Finder insights manager.

But not everyone agrees on charging their children board. One in five Australians believe their kids should live with them rent-free regardless of their age or financial situation.

Ms Lally said her parents want to take care of her until she gets on her feet, financially speaking, because “rent money is dead money”.

“I put up with the two-hour trip every morning and afternoon just for the convenience of living at home,” she said. “If my parents asked me to pay for board I would do it and I completely understand how it would benefit me in the future as well.”

Money is the most common reason for a multigenerational household, according to UNSW City Futures Researcher Dr Edgar Liu, who wrote a study into this in 2012.

And with 25 per cent of Sydney’s population in this situation, the city has always taken out the top spot across Australia for the highest rate of this phenomenon.

“Many families are also actively choosing this living arrangement to better provide care for young children and the elderly (the second most common reason),” said Dr Liu.

Dr Liu’s research found a mother who had a deposit, but unstable income, and her daughter at university with steady employment, who could service a mortgage, who bought a house together. In other cases, parents put their children’s board aside as a home deposit for the kids.

Leo Patterson Ross, advocacy and research officer at Tenants Union of NSW, said Sydney’s high cost of housing, for buying and renting, left children living at home longer than usual too.

“I’ve spoken to classes at two different universities and courses where not a single person was renting in the private market,” he said, “because private rentals and property ownership has become more expensive we see middle-aged people and professionals still in share houses and being the only ones who can afford. They’re pushing out students as a result.”

While it makes sense for families who could afford to help their children save money, Mr Ross worries it exacerbates housing affordability and the likelihood of property ownership for those less well off.

“It raises the questions about the families who can’t afford to waive rent,” he said.

Mr Cooke said while children and parents don’t see eye to eye on when to start paying board, one thing is for certain: children don’t become financially independent earlier than their parents.

“Financial circumstances are not as healthy as those in the boomer generation because property prices and rents are so high at the moment. That’s forcing people to stay living with parents,” he said.

This article was originally published by Domain on 27 April 2018. It represents the views of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tailored Lifetime Solutions.

If I could sum up the contents of my junk emails over the last 12 months in a single word it would be: Bitcoin. I can’t tell you how many unsolicited invitations I’ve received to start investing in bitcoin. This alone is a concern but when heavy hitters like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) start calling out the risks of bitcoin, the warning bells should definitely start ringing.

Bitcoin is one of many “cryptocurrencies” or digital currencies that aren’t backed by governments or banks. Instead it relies on a decentralised peer-to-peer network called a blockchain – a vast digital ledger that uses complex calculations to record all transactions made using bitcoin.

The technical details are complex. What’s much easier to grasp is the meteoric rise of bitcoin.

Big gains means big risks

For many years you could buy bitcoin for the price of a restaurant meal. Then in 2016 it started to take off. By mid-December 2017 bitcoin had soared in value to $AUD25,410. And that’s where things headed south. In mid-January 2018 bitcoin’s value had tanked to $AUD12,893.

As so often happens in speculative markets, some people have made big money. But plenty of latecomers would have experienced dreadful losses.

Security concerns

Hindsight is always a wonderful thing. But one of the fundamental rules of investing is that big returns come with big risks. Another maxim for successful investing is to only invest in something you understand, and it’s a reasonable bet plenty of people don’t fully grasp how cryptocurrencies work.

The problem is, crooks do. A report by the University of Cambridge notes that 22% of bitcoin exchanges having experienced security breaches. The same report says less than half the cryptocurrency payment companies in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America hold a government license.

It’s hardly reassuring stuff. And just recently the IMF warned that cryptocurrencies can “post considerable risks as potential vehicles for money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and fraud”.

Yet despite all this, investors are still pouring money in, hoping to ride a second wave of gains.

Should I be investing in bitcoin?

History is littered with the fallout from speculative markets, and the pattern is often similar – a steep rise in value fueled by investors coming on board late in the cycle for fear of missing out.

For my money, a good investment is backed by a quality asset – like shares in a successful company, a well-located investment property, or units in a managed fund run by a reputable team. There are plenty such investments to choose from, and your adviser can help narrow down the choice of what’s right for you.

As it stands, cryptocurrencies are largely unregulated, and without the backing of an underlying asset there is no real reason why their value should continue to rise other than demand from over-exuberant investors. If you do plan to invest in bitcoin, my advice is to only tip in money you can afford to lose.

Paul Clitheroe is a founding director of financial planning firm ipac, Chairman of the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board and chief commentator for Money Magazine.