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The Real Money Guide: The Missing Manual for Financial Recovery
From bankruptcy to Big Tech success, David Kim's journey reveals the missing manual for financial recovery and wealth building that no one ever handed you.
In THE REAL MONEY GUIDE, a former Marine turned tech executive shares his raw, transformative journey from financial collapse to renewed prosperity. After losing everything despite his MBA and financial certifications, David discovered that professional success doesn't automatically translate to financial wisdom.
This isn't just another personal finance book-it's the guide David wishes he'd had during both his struggles and successes. Through powerful personal stories and practical frameworks, he bridges the gap between crisis and wealth-building that most financial advice ignores.
Whether you're rebuilding after setbacks, managing newfound success, or navigating complex compensation like RSUs and stock options, this comprehensive guide provides battle-tested strategies for every stage of your financial journey.
The Real Money Guide combines personal narrative with actionable advice across five essential building core financial foundations, creating comprehensive protection, implementing effective wealth-building strategies, optimizing career and income, and establishing family financial legacy.
David's unique perspective-having experienced both bankruptcy and executive-level success-offers readers rare insights into sustainable financial practices that work in real life, not just on paper.
Start your path to lasting financial security with the manual that transforms financial struggle into sustainable success.
In THE REAL MONEY GUIDE, a former Marine turned tech executive shares his raw, transformative journey from financial collapse to renewed prosperity. After losing everything despite his MBA and financial certifications, David discovered that professional success doesn't automatically translate to financial wisdom.
This isn't just another personal finance book-it's the guide David wishes he'd had during both his struggles and successes. Through powerful personal stories and practical frameworks, he bridges the gap between crisis and wealth-building that most financial advice ignores.
Whether you're rebuilding after setbacks, managing newfound success, or navigating complex compensation like RSUs and stock options, this comprehensive guide provides battle-tested strategies for every stage of your financial journey.
The Real Money Guide combines personal narrative with actionable advice across five essential building core financial foundations, creating comprehensive protection, implementing effective wealth-building strategies, optimizing career and income, and establishing family financial legacy.
David's unique perspective-having experienced both bankruptcy and executive-level success-offers readers rare insights into sustainable financial practices that work in real life, not just on paper.
Start your path to lasting financial security with the manual that transforms financial struggle into sustainable success.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2025
3 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
David Kim
2 books5 followersDavid Kim writes about resilience, service, and the reality of building a life worth living.
David's path wasn't linear. After serving in the United States Marine Corps (1991-1999), he launched his civilian career as an engineer at Raytheon. Then came the detour that would reshape everything: a restaurant venture destroyed by partner betrayal, followed by bankruptcy in his forties.
He rebuilt through management consulting, eventually reaching senior leadership roles at Honeywell, Genpact, and Amazon Web Services. That journey from financial collapse to recovery became his first book, The Real Money Guide, a practical approach to personal finance for people who've learned hard lessons about money the hard way. He continues that mission weekly through his podcast, Real Money Pathway, helping listeners navigate their own financial recovery.
His second book, Bullets Don't Fly: A Supply Marine's Memoir, returns to his military roots. David served as a supply administration specialist with deployments to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. The memoir chronicles the often-overlooked world of military logistics and the quiet strength required to keep the mission running—even when no one's watching.
A first-generation Korean-American born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Riverside, California, David earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science while on active duty, completed his MBA while at Raytheon, and completed coursework towards a PhD in Management and Decision Science.
David lives in the Nashville area with his wife Lacey. He has two adult children, Anabel and Christian.
Connect with David:
www.therealmoneyguide.com | realmoneypathway.com
David's path wasn't linear. After serving in the United States Marine Corps (1991-1999), he launched his civilian career as an engineer at Raytheon. Then came the detour that would reshape everything: a restaurant venture destroyed by partner betrayal, followed by bankruptcy in his forties.
He rebuilt through management consulting, eventually reaching senior leadership roles at Honeywell, Genpact, and Amazon Web Services. That journey from financial collapse to recovery became his first book, The Real Money Guide, a practical approach to personal finance for people who've learned hard lessons about money the hard way. He continues that mission weekly through his podcast, Real Money Pathway, helping listeners navigate their own financial recovery.
His second book, Bullets Don't Fly: A Supply Marine's Memoir, returns to his military roots. David served as a supply administration specialist with deployments to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. The memoir chronicles the often-overlooked world of military logistics and the quiet strength required to keep the mission running—even when no one's watching.
A first-generation Korean-American born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Riverside, California, David earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science while on active duty, completed his MBA while at Raytheon, and completed coursework towards a PhD in Management and Decision Science.
David lives in the Nashville area with his wife Lacey. He has two adult children, Anabel and Christian.
Connect with David:
www.therealmoneyguide.com | realmoneypathway.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2026
Lots of good info for getting yourself back on track financially.
*I won this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.*
*I won this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.*
December 27, 2025
The Real Money Guide is a refreshingly honest and deeply practical book that fills a critical gap in personal finance literature. David Kim’s journey, from bankruptcy to executive success in Big Tech, adds rare credibility to his guidance. Rather than assuming education, income, or credentials automatically lead to financial security, this book confronts the uncomfortable truth that many high achievers still lack a real financial operating system.
What makes this book stand out is its balance of vulnerability and structure. Kim doesn’t just share his story—he translates hard-earned lessons into clear frameworks that work across different stages of life, whether someone is rebuilding after loss, managing sudden success, or navigating complex compensation like stock options and RSUs. The emphasis on foundations, protection, wealth-building, and legacy makes this a truly comprehensive guide. The Real Money Guide feels less like generic advice and more like the manual readers wish they had when it mattered most.
What makes this book stand out is its balance of vulnerability and structure. Kim doesn’t just share his story—he translates hard-earned lessons into clear frameworks that work across different stages of life, whether someone is rebuilding after loss, managing sudden success, or navigating complex compensation like stock options and RSUs. The emphasis on foundations, protection, wealth-building, and legacy makes this a truly comprehensive guide. The Real Money Guide feels less like generic advice and more like the manual readers wish they had when it mattered most.
December 5, 2025
I'll be honest, I didn't think David would write this book.
Not because he couldn't. Because it meant putting the worst years of his life on paper for strangers to read. The bankruptcy. The failed restaurant. The divorce. The months of uncertainty about whether any of it would work out. That's not easy to share with people you know, let alone publish.
But he did it, and I'm glad.
The first part reads like a cautionary tale, except it's real. I was there for chunks of it. Watched a guy who had it all together completely fall apart, then slowly, painfully, put himself back together. No shortcuts. No lucky breaks. Just discipline and time and a willingness to learn from every mistake.
The financial advice in the back half isn't revolutionar, most of it is stuff you've probably heard before. But the difference is David earned it. Every principle in this book came from actual experience, not textbooks. When he talks about building an emergency fund from nothing, he means literally nothing. When he talks about having hard money conversations with your partner, he's speaking from a failed marriage and a successful one.
If you need permission to believe you can come back from financial disaster, this book gives it to you. And it shows you how.
Not because he couldn't. Because it meant putting the worst years of his life on paper for strangers to read. The bankruptcy. The failed restaurant. The divorce. The months of uncertainty about whether any of it would work out. That's not easy to share with people you know, let alone publish.
But he did it, and I'm glad.
The first part reads like a cautionary tale, except it's real. I was there for chunks of it. Watched a guy who had it all together completely fall apart, then slowly, painfully, put himself back together. No shortcuts. No lucky breaks. Just discipline and time and a willingness to learn from every mistake.
The financial advice in the back half isn't revolutionar, most of it is stuff you've probably heard before. But the difference is David earned it. Every principle in this book came from actual experience, not textbooks. When he talks about building an emergency fund from nothing, he means literally nothing. When he talks about having hard money conversations with your partner, he's speaking from a failed marriage and a successful one.
If you need permission to believe you can come back from financial disaster, this book gives it to you. And it shows you how.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews