Derrick Kinney – Good Money Revolution: Book Review & Audio Summary

Book Info

• Book name: Good Money Revolution
• Author: Derrick Kinney
• Genre: Business & Economics, Self-Help & Personal Development
• Published Year: 2023
• Language: English

Audio Summary

Synopsis

In Good Money Revolution, financial expert Derrick Kinney challenges the notion that money is the root of all evil. Instead, he presents a refreshing framework that shows how earning more money enables you to do more good in the world. Through his 7-step Good Money Framework, Kinney demonstrates how aligning your financial goals with your generosity purpose creates a virtuous cycle of wealth and giving. The book combines practical financial advice with inspiring stories of people who’ve transformed their businesses and lives by focusing on making money to fuel their charitable passions. It’s not about greed—it’s about generating prosperity that benefits everyone, including yourself.

Key Takeaways

• Money itself isn’t evil—it’s a powerful tool that can do tremendous good when used with intention and purpose
• Giving money away actually increases your happiness more than spending it on yourself, backed by scientific research
• Identifying your “generosity purpose”—a cause you deeply care about—can dramatically increase your motivation to grow your income
• The Good Money Framework provides a systematic approach to earning more so you can give more, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of prosperity and generosity
• Aligning your financial goals with charitable giving transforms money-making from a selfish pursuit into a meaningful mission

My Summary

Rethinking Our Relationship with Money

I’ll be honest—when I first picked up Good Money Revolution, I was skeptical. Another book about making more money? Haven’t we heard it all before? But Derrick Kinney’s approach caught me off guard in the best possible way. This isn’t your typical “get rich quick” scheme or even a standard personal finance book. It’s something fundamentally different.

We’ve all heard the phrase “money is the root of all evil” so many times it’s become ingrained in our thinking. And when you’re staring at a pile of unpaid bills, watching your kids outgrow their shoes for the third time this year, or worrying about retirement, it’s easy to develop a toxic relationship with money. It starts to feel like this oppressive force in your life, always causing stress and never bringing joy.

But Kinney flips this narrative on its head. He asks a simple but profound question: What if money isn’t inherently evil at all? What if it’s actually one of the most powerful tools for good that we have at our disposal?

Think about it for a moment. Money can send kids to school, provide clean water to villages, fund medical research, help families escape poverty, and support countless causes that make the world better. A struggling family doesn’t need platitudes—they need resources. A homeless person doesn’t just need sympathy—they need practical help. And while time and effort matter enormously, money is often the catalyst that makes real change possible.

The Science of Generous Giving

One of the most compelling sections of the book discusses research from the University of British Columbia that really resonated with me. Researchers gave students some free money and divided them into two groups. Half were instructed to spend it on themselves—whatever they wanted. The other half had to spend it on someone else, whether that meant buying a gift for a friend or donating to a soup kitchen.

At the end of the experiment, the scientists measured happiness levels. The results? Those who gave their money away reported significantly higher happiness than those who spent it on themselves.

This finding aligns with so much of what we know about human psychology but often forget in our day-to-day lives. We think that new car, bigger house, or fancy vacation will finally make us happy. And sure, there’s temporary pleasure in those things. But it fades quickly. There’s always a newer car, a bigger house, another destination on the bucket list.

Giving, however, creates a different kind of satisfaction—one that’s deeper and more lasting. It connects us to something beyond ourselves. It gives our actions meaning and purpose. And according to Kinney, this isn’t just a nice side effect of charity. It’s actually the key to unlocking greater financial success.

The Good Money Revolution Framework

The heart of Kinney’s book is what he calls the Good Money Framework—a seven-step process for aligning your financial life with your values and charitable goals. While the summary I received didn’t include all seven steps, the ones outlined give us a clear picture of how this system works.

Step 1: Discover Your Generosity Purpose

This is where everything begins, and it’s probably the most important step. Kinney argues that you need to identify what cause you genuinely care about—not what you think you should care about, not what’s trendy, but what truly moves you.

The book illustrates this with the story of Dave, one of Kinney’s clients. Dave had built a successful business, but he felt unmotivated and disconnected from his work. He’d forgotten why he started in the first place. When Kinney asked him what causes mattered to him, Dave remembered a trip he’d taken years earlier. He’d visited a small, impoverished village that didn’t even have a proper school building.

That memory sparked something in Dave. Building a school for that village became his generosity purpose. And here’s the remarkable part—once Dave had this clear purpose, his entire business transformed. Sales increased almost immediately. Why? Because he wasn’t just making money anymore. He was making money to build a school. He had a mission that mattered.

Your generosity purpose might be completely different from Dave’s. Maybe it’s a local park that needs restoration. Maybe it’s medical research for a disease that affected your family. Maybe it’s a specific family in your community who’s struggling. Maybe it’s combating homelessness or supporting arts education. The key is that it has to be authentic to you.

Step 2: Assess Your Current Finances and Set Goals

Once you’ve identified your generosity purpose, Kinney recommends taking a hard look at where you are financially right now. This isn’t about judgment—it’s about clarity. You need to understand your starting point before you can map out where you’re going.

Then, identify your top three financial goals. These might include paying off debt, buying a home, funding your children’s education, building an emergency fund, or planning for retirement. The important thing is to be specific and realistic.

Step 3: Determine Your Desired Income

This step involves calculating what income level you need to achieve both your personal financial goals and your generosity purpose. It’s not about picking an arbitrary number that sounds impressive. It’s about understanding the actual resources required to live the life you want while also making the charitable impact you desire.

Why This Approach Works in Today’s World

I’ve read dozens of personal finance and business books over the years, and what strikes me about Kinney’s approach is how well it addresses a problem that’s particularly acute in our current moment: the crisis of meaning in work.

We’re living through what some researchers call “The Great Resignation” or “The Great Reshuffle.” Millions of people are reevaluating their careers, not necessarily because they’re not making enough money, but because their work feels meaningless. They’re burned out not just from working hard, but from working hard for purposes they don’t care about.

Kinney’s framework offers a solution to this. By connecting your income-generating activities to a cause you care deeply about, you transform the nature of your work. You’re no longer just grinding to pay bills. You’re building something that matters. Every sale, every client, every successful project becomes part of a larger mission.

This psychological shift is powerful. It’s the difference between running on a treadmill (expending energy but going nowhere meaningful) and running toward a destination you care about reaching. The effort might be similar, but the experience is completely different.

Practical Applications for Daily Life

1. Start with Small-Scale Generosity

You don’t need to wait until you’re wealthy to begin practicing the principles in this book. Start where you are. If you can’t donate money right now, donate time or skills. Volunteer at an organization aligned with your generosity purpose. This keeps you connected to your mission and often opens doors to new opportunities and connections.

2. Create a Giving Budget

Just as you budget for rent, groceries, and savings, create a line item for charitable giving. Even if it’s small at first—$20 a month—the act of intentionally setting aside money for giving reinforces your generosity purpose and makes it a non-negotiable part of your financial life.

3. Connect Your Career Goals to Your Generosity Purpose

When you’re considering a new job, asking for a raise, or thinking about starting a side business, frame these decisions in terms of your generosity purpose. “If I take this position, will it help me earn more so I can contribute more to the cause I care about?” This lens can clarify decisions that might otherwise feel purely selfish or anxiety-inducing.

4. Share Your Generosity Purpose

Don’t keep your mission secret. When appropriate, share what you’re working toward with friends, family, and colleagues. This creates accountability, attracts like-minded people into your life, and sometimes opens up unexpected opportunities for collaboration or support.

5. Track Both Financial and Impact Metrics

Monitor not just your income and savings, but also your charitable contributions and their impact. How much have you given this year? How many people has it helped? Seeing these numbers grow alongside your personal wealth reinforces the positive cycle Kinney describes.

What This Book Does Exceptionally Well

After finishing Good Money Revolution, several strengths stand out to me. First, Kinney successfully reframes a conversation that’s often dominated by guilt or greed. He doesn’t shame people for wanting more money, nor does he promote selfish accumulation. Instead, he presents a third way—prosperity with purpose.

Second, the book grounds its principles in both research and real-world examples. The University of British Columbia study provides scientific backing, while stories like Dave’s school project show how these ideas work in practice. This combination of evidence and narrative makes the concepts both credible and relatable.

Third, Kinney offers a concrete framework rather than vague inspiration. The seven-step process gives readers an actual roadmap to follow, not just motivational platitudes. This practical approach is refreshing in a genre that’s often heavy on inspiration but light on implementation.

Potential Limitations to Consider

That said, no book is perfect, and Good Money Revolution has some limitations worth noting. The framework assumes a certain baseline of financial stability. If you’re genuinely struggling to meet basic needs, the idea of giving money away—even with the promise of future returns—might feel unrealistic or even irresponsible.

The book would benefit from more discussion of how people at different income levels can apply these principles. What does the Good Money Framework look like for someone making $30,000 a year versus someone making $300,000? The principles might be the same, but the application would differ significantly.

Additionally, while Kinney emphasizes that giving increases motivation and, by extension, income, this isn’t a guaranteed formula. Not every business will experience Dave’s immediate sales boost. Some readers might commit to a generosity purpose and still face financial setbacks. The book could do more to address what happens when the virtuous cycle doesn’t kick in as quickly as hoped.

How This Compares to Other Financial Books

In the landscape of personal finance literature, Good Money Revolution occupies an interesting middle ground. It’s not a pure wealth-building book like “Rich Dad Poor Dad” or “The Millionaire Next Door,” which focus primarily on accumulation strategies. Nor is it a minimalist manifesto like “Your Money or Your Life,” which questions whether we need as much money as we think.

Instead, Kinney’s approach most closely resembles books like “Profit First” by Mike Michalowicz or “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann—works that argue for aligning business practices with values and suggest that doing good and doing well aren’t mutually exclusive.

What distinguishes Good Money Revolution is its explicit focus on charitable giving as a motivational tool for financial growth. While many business books mention giving back as something successful people do after they’ve made it, Kinney argues for building generosity into your financial strategy from the beginning.

Questions Worth Pondering

As I reflected on this book, a few questions kept coming to mind that I’d love to hear other readers’ thoughts on. First, how do we balance the emphasis on giving with the very real need many people have to build financial security for themselves and their families? Is there a point where prioritizing charitable giving becomes financially irresponsible?

Second, does the motivation matter? If someone gives to charity primarily because it makes them feel good or helps their business, is that somehow less valuable than giving from pure altruism? Or is the impact what matters most, regardless of motivation?

Finding Your Own Good Money Revolution

Reading Good Money Revolution reminded me why I love writing about books—they have the power to shift our perspective on fundamental aspects of life. Kinney has written a book that challenges the false choice between financial success and generosity, showing instead how they can fuel each other.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to reignite your passion for your business, someone feeling stuck in your career, or just a person who wants to make more of a difference in the world, there’s something valuable here. The framework is flexible enough to adapt to different situations while remaining concrete enough to actually implement.

As I think about applying these principles in my own life, I’m reminded that the good money revolution isn’t really about money at all—it’s about purpose. It’s about connecting the practical necessity of earning a living with the deeper human need to contribute something meaningful to the world.

And that’s a revolution worth joining.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What’s your generosity purpose? What cause would motivate you to push harder in your career or business? And if you’ve already aligned your finances with charitable giving, what has that experience been like? Let’s keep this conversation going, because I think we could all benefit from reimagining our relationship with money in more purposeful ways.