Prologue: Let's save, save, and study economics.

Chapter 1: The Fun of Saving Money

Another name for a frugal person is a free person | A rich person's mindset that focuses on existence rather than possessions | Working hard in youth while earning money | Is that really necessary now? | Saving habits, self-esteem come first | The lifestyle habits of the wealthy, where saving is a strategy

Chapter 2: The Joy of Earning Your Own Money

A good attitude toward work | Finding what you love is the beginning | The strength to persevere until you start making money | People who are good at their jobs think like rich people | Financial freedom is easily achievable with just a salary | Bet on one thing | It's fun because you're good at it

Chapter 3: Money-Saving Habits of the Rich

YOLO and Work-Life Balance | The Most Powerful Weapon for Saving Money | Do I Really Need a House? | Let's Save Just 100 Million Won | Prepare for the Long, Long Winter | Financial Literacy Shapes Your Life | Receive a Salary After Retirement? | Pension Investments to Prepare for the Cold | A Salary for Yourself in 30 Years

Chapter 4: The Joy of Money Making Money

Capitalism Runs on Debt? | To Live Worry-Free, Start by Learning About Money | A Strong House with Good Debt | The Debt Horizon You Should Never Cross | The Traps Beginning Investors Fall Into | Let's Make Money Cowardly | The Golden Time for Asset Management

Chapter 5: The Happiness of Smart Consumption

FIRE Tribe members write happiness lists | Spending money wisely also requires practice | Don't hesitate to spend money that fulfills your dreams | Enjoy the pleasure of spending money little by little, often | Manage your life with a household budget

Appendix 1: Rich Habits Starting with Reading
Appendix 2: Recommended Books for the Stingy Money Study

“Start with something simple!
“Saving and saving is the priority!”
The safest and most certain wealth formula for ordinary salaried workers.

During lunchtime, colleagues gather in groups of three or five and talk about the current Bitcoin price and which stocks are good for investment.
Someone else said that he took out a loan to buy a house.
I'm pretending to listen, but I don't really understand.
Honestly, my salary isn't that high, and I have a lot of expenses like rent and living expenses to cover. Isn't investing too much? I want to, but where do I even begin? My new book, "Invest Half Your Salary," is an introductory guide to financial planning that answers these very questions.

The author of this book, PD Kim Min-sik, is a drama PD who has directed numerous hit dramas such as “New Nonstop” and “My Secret Terrius,” and is also a bestselling author of “Have You Memorized an English Book?”
This time, he is introducing a book on financial investment.
Even the title is provocative.
'Invest half of your salary!'

The title alone might read as a call to immediately invest half of your monthly income in stocks or Bitcoin.
But rather the opposite is true.
The author emphasizes that you should never invest hastily.
This means that for ordinary salaried workers, it is easier to increase income through their main job than to make money through investments.
He says to leave investing to the experts and stick to your main job, while saving and saving half of your income unconditionally.
You might be thinking, "Is this possible?" or "It's difficult because my salary is low." However, based on my own know-how that I've been practicing since my 20s, I'll present a step-by-step guide on how to start saving half of my salary.

First is mindset.
Rather than owning something, it's about defining for yourself what makes your existence shine, what you like, and what kind of future you want.
This must be done first so that you can enjoy the fun of saving without sacrificing today, and only then can you sustain it for a long time.


To this end, we will generously share our know-how on how to do things that cost money without spending money, that is, how to enjoy things like self-development or hobbies for free.
The next step is 'Earning Well'. We suggest know-how and specific management methods for creating various income sources in hobbies or professional fields to earn well.
The last is 'collecting', which is the most core message that runs through the entire book.
The 'half salary investment' that the author talks about literally means saving 50% of your income.
It may not be easy to get 50% from the beginning, but we kindly introduce a method to start from 30% and gradually increase the proportion.
It provides detailed information on basic practices such as keeping a household account book, as well as checklists for managing spending wisely and how to use financial products to manage savings more efficiently.
Ultimately, it also provides a simple introduction to managing pension products, which are essential for achieving true financial freedom. You'll also learn about the considerations you need to consider when choosing products like IRPs and ISAs, even terms that may seem unfamiliar.


“Start investing half your salary as soon as possible!”

As introduced, the author of this book, PD Kim Min-sik, chose to retire at the age of 52 after working in various occupations and is now living as a pensioner, doing various jobs as a truly free person.
He says the happiest thing about achieving financial freedom is that he doesn't have to do things he doesn't want to do.
Because you can live the way you want.
And he says that all of this was possible thanks to his frugal habit of saving 50 percent of his income since his 20s.
Although it might seem difficult to call him a 'stingy person', he emphasizes that thanks to that habit, he was able to be happy in everything he did and explore new paths.
But even he had his trials.
The return on the retirement pension I signed up for in hopes of earning a little more profit was -16%.


Afterwards, he dug deep into the principles of money to properly understand why he had suffered investment losses, and based on that realization, he began to deeply contemplate why studying money is necessary in our lives and how to generate stable profits without losing his own money.
This book is a condensed crystallization of that time.
Ultimately, he added theory to everything he had practiced so far and came up with the simplest and safest way to invest.


The methods he proposes may seem ordinary, but that is precisely why they have the advantage of being usable by anyone.
In other words, this means that anyone can win if they consistently accumulate time.
It is said that anyone can get started right away because it contains the experience and know-how of someone who lived as a salaried worker all their life, bought an apartment in Gangnam with just their salary, and designed an asset portfolio to live off just their pension.


This book won't tell you where to invest right now. Rather, it'll help you avoid common pitfalls, drawing on its own experiences of success and failure. It'll also help you understand the fundamentals of how the capitalist economy works, helping you safely manage your money.
"Invest Half Your Salary" is a guidebook that teaches you how to achieve true financial freedom without losing your money. It will also help you prepare for the future while being most faithful to your life today, and guide you to greater life satisfaction and happiness.