Celebrating 500,000 Members: A Father & Son Journey With SaverLife

In honor of SaverLife reaching 500,000 members, we reached out to our community members to learn about their financial journeys and how they’ve seen SaverLife grow over the years. 

In 2014, SaverLife—then called EARN—profiled Abraham and his son Johny. Abraham used his savings to open a successful computer repair shop.

Before learning about SaverLife (EARN), Abraham and Johny had endured so much—the 2008 recession was a devastating time for the family. Abraham lost the house he had worked hard to buy and eventually had to file for bankruptcy. In the midst of this, he promised his son, Johny, that he would one day own his own business. 

Abraham connected with EARN and learned about finances and saving. 

“In those days, EARN would give a six-week course about financials,” Abraham said. “Those six weeks were a turning point for me. EARN played a very important role in helping me launch my business.” 

He now owns two technology repair shops in the Bay Area. Despite the difficulties of the pandemic, the businesses have continued to flourish. 

The financial lessons Abraham learned also benefited Johny. Abraham used what he learned in the courses to help Johny set up a checking and savings account to prepare financially for college. When we met Johny, he was a senior in high school—he has since graduated from college and now works in finance. 

The early lessons his dad taught him shaped his approach to his personal finances. 

“When I started my career, I made it a priority to save a lot of my paycheck,” he said. “I have a high savings rate and am focused on ensuring I have a safety net in case of an emergency.”

Johny also learned from his father about how important benefits are as an employee. 

“As an employee, there were barriers to [my dad] understanding benefits,” Johny said. “I read my benefits four times to make sure I understood everything and knew how to maximize my retirement accounts and save on taxes.”

After eight years of working tirelessly to build his businesses, Abraham is now ready to step back. He hopes to train others to help him run the shops. Financially, he plans to focus on saving for retirement. 

“I would like to be more educated with investments and with what EARN planted in me about saving and being financially stable,” he said.  

Johny plans to continue saving as much as possible, with the hopes of one day buying his own home. 

Abraham and Johny haven’t seen each other much in the past year because of the pandemic, 

but hope to reunite soon. 

As Johny told us in 2014, “My dad started from nothing, and now he has a shop that my whole family is proud of.”