We sit down with Derrick Kinney, the author of Good Money Revolution as he shares with us the secret to tying purpose to your profit and meaning to your money
Many people tend to feel awkward or guilty about making money. There are many messages that say that earning a high income must mean that you are self-focused, and you must be after power or prestige. In the Good Money Revolution, Derrick offers an alternative way of thinking about making money. He said, “People are told today in our culture that you shouldn’t like money- that’s bad. And the point of the book is that I believe that the real enemy is not believing that money can be a positive change for good. Because so many people think that just making money is the end game, but when they make a lot of money they’re sold this bill of goods that says you’re going to be happy, you’ll be fulfilled, you won’t have a care in the world then they reach the top of that mountain and they look around and think “It’s lonely up here. I don’t feel the fulfillment I was promised!” What I found was, and this is how I built my business when you can tie meaning to your money, a cause to your cash, and purpose to your profits, suddenly there is a compelling reason to go make money! It’s not just to pad your bank account and have the biggest house on the block… Now I want to make more money with a purpose so I can make people’s lives better.” Derrick shared a bit of his background and how as a young person he really enjoyed making money and saving money and he discovered that he derives immense joy from giving money to others. He said, “the power of anonymous giving is a powerful feeling, I have this ability to make money to make someone’s life better.” He saw people needed help with their money and it seemed complicated, and he wanted to make it easy to understand.
As we interviewed him on “The Bullpen,” Derrick shared 3 top takeaways that he has learned over his career of helping people make more money to do more good.
Using Failure as a fertilizer
It can be so easy to get frustrated when you fail at something. You can begin to question yourself, “Am I on the right path?” Derrick shared some great insight into how failure is part of the journey, the more successful you are the more failure you have gone through and embraced. You can use the failure to learn what to do next time and how to continuously improve. Although failure is a painful teacher, the lessons we learn through it are sure to stick and help us reach our goals to be more successful in the future. The biggest thing is to not let failure stop you from pursuing your purpose. This can be applied to investing as well, Derrick provided a helpful analogy for how we must think about our money as a 4-lane highway. The “Slow Lane” is for your checking/savings accounts, and it earns little interest but is very secure and safe in the event of an emergency and it is easily accessible. The second lane is labeled the “3–5-year lane” which stores savings goals like a down payment for a house or children’s college savings. The 3rd lane houses investments like ETFs, real estate investments, and retirement accounts like 401Ks or Roth IRAs. The last lane is where our lesson of “failure as fertilizer” is most applicable. The 4th lane or the “fast lane” is a speculative lane. Derrick mentioned that this lane has the most likelihood of speeding or traffic tickets and accidents. He recommends using this adventurous lane for passion projects or speculative interests like bitcoin. It is important to seek help from an expert, like your Financial Mentor, to determin how much money must be allocated to each “lane” in order to maintain financial health.
Could your Money Mindset be holding you back?
Bad money beliefs can hold you back. Derrick told a story about a woman who left a voicemail on his answering machine about how she was terrified and had gotten a letter in the mail saying that she had bounced a check and she thought she was going to jail. After talking to Derrick, she realized that this was not the case, but that because of this limiting belief and others like it, she had been overly conservative with her money and had not taken opportunities. She shared that she had grown up with these bad money beliefs that had limited her success. Once she identified what those were, in six months she was able to obtain a $15,000 promotion and make more money on her investments by being less risk-averse. This story is a great example of how when we eliminate the fallacies in our mindset towards money, we will make rational financial decisions and grow in profit and our ability to impact the world.
Be a creator of money, not just a receiver of money
Having a side hustle can be a great way to increase your income and not rely on a boss to give you financial security. Many parents can tell their children to shy away from creating your own business and to seek a traditional job. This is definitely a great path to learn and a great place to start financially, but there is also great value in creating something of your own to decrease your dependence on other people and generate your own income. The path to prosperity doesn’t just look like “getting the job” but it can also look like creating your own path to financial success.
Derrick’s insights helped us to change our mindset about making money and use it to good in the world. To hear more from Derrick Kinney, purchase his book “Good Money Revolution” wherever books are sold and follow him on Instagram at @derricktkinney for more!
To learn how you can start giving more generously or implement some of the ideas we talked about, schedule some 1:1 time with your Money Mentor to put a plan in place! No matter where you are on your financial journey, we are here to help. As a Mentoro member, you have access to numerous tools, calculators, and resources that can make your financial dreams become reality. Visit mymentoro.com today to set up your account.
