Kevin Maki joined Sunward in 1993 as a summer intern for Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. A New York native, he intended to complete his PhD at Cornell University and then return to work at the Labs.
Instead, it was nearly a decade later that Kevin returned to his Sunward membership. In 2002, he moved to the Bay Area with his wife Kenyata and two children and needed cash to rent an apartment. He remembered Sunward had branches just 20 miles away in Livermore, California. “It was an ‘aha’ moment. Don’t walk away just because I’m not in Albuquerque,” he told himself.
Since then, Kevin and Kenyata’s family has grown to six boys, triplet girls, and one more baby boy; their oldest son earned his first paychecks in 2016 from a summer job. Kevin and Kenyata make sure their kids have regular opportunities to think about saving and spending money as part of their home schooling.
“We’ll give the older boys $5 in the morning, and throughout the day, take $1.25 for rent, 35 cents for utilities, and so on,” Kevin says. “One day equals one month. At the end of the day, there might be only 25 cents left, and they get to keep it.” The exercise provides opportunities to talk about budgeting and making sure money is left at the end of each “month.”
“I also offer bonuses for tough chores, like cleaning the bathroom or the van,” Kenyata says, “to teach them the value of work.”
Eight of the Maki children opened their own savings accounts in 2016. The children age 12 and younger picked up Sunward Savings Laboratory® notebooks to collect stickers for each deposit they make, which they can then redeem for different prizes.
“I want to convey to my children that Sunward offers unique and different products,” Kevin says. It’s a partnership, he says, that will provide good opportunities for them in the future.
Sunward's Savings Laboratory
Sunward's Savings Laboratory is a fun way to get kids excited about saving. Young members age 12 and under can collect stickers in their Savings Laboratory notebooks for making deposits. Later, they can redeem their stickers for exciting prizes like movie tickets or gift cards. Learn more online, or stop by any branch or call 505.293.0500 or 800.947.5328 to request a Savings Laboratory notebook.
