VOL.95/2026.06

Wisdom That Cuts to the Heart of Money

A banker’s pick

2025.09.04

The deeper I go into finance, the more I realize that everything rests on the basics. And, that foundation is how we view money. When we become trapped in the wrong beliefs, we might shut out other possibilities and end up repeating the same mistakes. That is why I would like to introduce this book: it begins by reshaping one’s perspective?the “money frame”?before moving on to the technicalities of handling it.
The book itself unfolds in three parts. The first is how we look at money. It asks readers to examine their own mindset about money and identify what must change to achieve financial freedom. The second is how we handle money. It looks at practice?how we earn, spend, grow, and share money?and how to keep those four in balance. The third is the money sensibilities common among the wealthy. It conveys the insights into money revealed in the money frames of the happy wealthy.
Rather than listing financial products or techniques, the book explores the meaning of earning, the structure of income, and the essence of investing. It is a book that encourages readers to build the habit of separating “money for today” from “money for tomorrow.” In an investment climate easily swayed by rapid trends and information overload, the book recenters the basics?“earn more,” “spend well,” and the idea that “time is the essence of investing”?and guides readers to reexamine, from the ground up, how they approach money.

We work for money?but not only for money. It can solve a lot, but not everything. Still, many of us end up living as if money were life’s purpose, or as if work defined our entire existence.
Money, Myself, and My Work is a book for those seeking balance among money, work, dreams, and self-realization. Thirteen authors share their candid thoughts and insights on money, work, and life. The book gently asks how we might live without being dragged around by money, but instead use it wisely as we shape our lives. Of course, everyone longs for enough money and work to enjoy a comfortable life, but the authors remind us that circumstances differ, and that both work and life rarely flow the way we expect.
In this book, professionals from a wide range of fields?actors, novelists, YouTubers, poets, chefs, photographers, journalists, designers, and booksellers?share how they each strive to protect their money, their work, and their sense of self. Their jobs differ, but the ways of finding balance in life can be surprisingly simple. As YouTuber Lee Won-Ji puts it, “Money is an investment in myself,” while photographer K. Chae says, “I save experiences.” Their voices remind us that we can choose values beyond money, and that there is never only one standard for success and happiness.

Written by Son Woo-Jung (Deputy Manager of the Channel Strategy Department at KEB Bank)