No Birds Were Hurt In The Making of This Post

Wondering where I’ve been lately? Well, I’ve taken advantage of some post-operative convalescent leave to concentrate on finishing my book. As a result, I haven’t spent any time writing new content for the blog. Fortunately, though, Chris Pascale saved the day and offered to write a guest post for this month. Chris is a published author, father, husband, accountant, teacher, and former U.S. Marine (although I’ve been informed there’s no such thing as a former Marine). He’s also a big fan and friend of the blog.

Chris reached out to me last year (2018) after he heard my interview on the ChooseFI podcast. He believed we had a lot in common including military service, money issues, and PTS. To prove it, he sent me a copy of his most recent book of published poetry called War Poems: A Marine’s Tour 2003-2008.

That’s right, Chris is a warrior poet, and to tell you the truth, I was blown away when I read his poems. His rough language about tough subjects like deployments, money problems, therapy, and marriage, dipped in a heavy amount of sarcasm, spoke to me. So much so, that it took me several attempts to finish his short book. I’d get so emotional that I could only read a few pages at a time. But, finish I did, and we’ve been email friends ever since.

With that as introduction, I’m going to kick it over to Chris to talk about making worth vs. worth it decisions in everyday life. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did editing it, and of course, slipping in pictures with my standard quips.

Do As I Say …

Want to lock in a middle-class lifestyle by middle age? Then you need to get counter-cultural with your spending and saving. Forgo the stupid cars, forget the fancier house, stop paying for worthless colleges, and earn a real life.

Let me start by saying that I’m not frugal. I live in a $400,000 home on the South Shore of Long Island with my wife, 4 kids, and 2 pets. I don’t cut my own grass or rake the leaves. Last August, for my anniversary, I spent an unplanned $500 on an outfit for myself, which (fortunately) has gotten plenty of mileage. Yesterday, I tipped my barber a well-earned $20 for a haircut that cost the same amount.

I’m telling you this in preparation for what I want to tell you next; so you know that I too struggle to live as frugally I should. I’m about to tell you not to spend a lot of money on things in the present. These are things that our culture says you should spend money on. However, it’s not because spending money, or giving it away, is bad. I personally take great joy from both. No, I’m about to tell you not to spend money in some areas, so you can spend money in other areas, save enough for retirement, and purchase freedom from doing things you do not like.

Think this sounds too good to be true? Read further and see if that’s the case. There’s no magic involved, just some application of common sense. Which is why in this article, we’ll talk about the two halves of the financial equation – income and spending. First, we’ll discuss the money we make because, without it, the rest is just academic.

What You Earn … Matters

One of my favorite pieces of Dave Ramsey advice is that you might need a part-time job, or a new job, because you’re not making enough. This is simple but actionable advice. It removes the shame and blame caused by a person’s spending. Instead, it prompts people to think about what else they can do to earn more money.

To paraphrase Dave, to live a certain way today costs a certain amount. You need to at least make that amount to break even. While that’s the bottom line for the present, below that line is where you really start to make a difference for your future. Anything you can do to increase your income now helps move your financial independence (FI) date closer to the present. As a result, below are five ideas I’ve used to create more income.

Income Idea 1: Add or Switch Jobs

Aside from writing what I like to write, and editing things that interest me, I don’t enjoy working. This includes normal 9-5 jobs, as well as fixing things around my home, cutting grass, or any of those household honey-do type things. Despite that, I work two jobs, a full-time job for the federal government, and a part-time one at a community college. In 2018, my wife made the decision to work full-time to help us reach our goals faster, which I discussed in an article called Wife on F.I.R.E.

For those who have a job they love, that’s really awesome. I have a great deal of admiration for someone who can do something for 40 years because they can’t think of not living that kind of life. For me, though, I work because none of my entrepreneurial and/or investment ideas are self-sustaining. The way I see it, the income from my normal job is there to fund my current expenses (mortgage, car, kids, and retirement investments). Anything else I can do to add to my income stream can be used for one, or a combination, of the following things: 1) supercharge my savings 2) fund my side projects or 3) inflate my lifestyle.

I try to avoid the third at all costs.

That said, working multiple jobs isn’t the only way to increase your income. You can always change jobs. Doing so might translate directly into higher wages. Or, alternatively, it may provide an additive skill set which could pay more in the future. Unfortunately, I seem to stay at or change jobs at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. As a teenager, I stuck with one job for six years, instead of changing every year to add new skills. As a result, I might be among the top 1% of all busboys in the U.S. of A. Liam Neeson said, “I have a certain set of skills”, but in this case, it’s the wrong skill.

On the other hand, as an adult, I made the opposite mistake. I changed careers too much, instead of staying and deepening my knowledge in one area. I’m 36 as I write this, but I’ve only accumulated 6 years of accounting experience … instead of the 16 that I could’ve, had I stuck with it from the start. My lesson is to be more strategic than me. Plot out how much you need to earn in order to achieve your financial goals, and how you plan to get there. Then, and only then, make your move.

Income Idea 2: Side Projects and/or Businesses

First off, you don’t need to start a business or create a side project to achieve financial freedom. So, if you don’t want to do anything other than your job, that’s OK. Just make sure you put money to the side for your future needs.

Second, not all side projects are designed to make money. Some people simply engage in them because they like to. Others do it to learn new skills while having a good time. Maybe they translate them into earnings in the future, maybe they don’t. The GrumpusMaximus site is a great example of a side project that isn’t designed to make money. GM started his site to flesh out some ideas, share them with others, and maybe figure out his next big step(s) in life. That said, who knows where his blogging may take him. He’s created options while adding skills.

On the other hand, writing is my side business. I wrote a book which was published in 2016. I have another scheduled for release this year. Writing provides me a good deal of joy. It also forces me to advance my skill sets. However, it doesn’t earn very much money. In 10 years, I’ve grossed approximately $75,000.

Last year, I actually lost money. I earned about $500 in book royalties while spending $2,000 on travel and promotion. However, I felt it was worth it because I made enough at my other two jobs to cover the expense. At the same time, I added more notches to my belt. For example, I was the (unpaid) keynote speaker at an event in Iowa. As a result, I can honestly place “keynote speaker” on my résumé. As a bonus, one of my daughters came with me, and we had a fantastic time. Who can put a price tag on that?

Income Idea 3: Interest

While the above income idea was optional, this one is not. You need to adopt the following, internalize it, and put it into action. Your money should be invested in ways that make more money. Of course, the most common everyday way to do this is to deposit your money in interest-bearing accounts. That’s not the only way though. If you’re willing to accept more risk, you could also invest some of your money in stocks or bonds.

Let’s talk about interest first. Interest is what a bank pays you for giving them your money. They take that money and lend it out so that people can buy cars, houses, or start businesses. Those loans earn interest, some of which the banks must pass on to you in form of interest earned on savings accounts.

Last year, my kids and I switched banks because we weren’t earning enough interest. TD Bank only paid my kids a couple pennies each month on over $2,000 saved. That’s a fairly common story since the end of the 2008-09 Financial Crisis. Post-crisis interest rates remain historically low which means the banks don’t pay depositors a lot of interest.

That said, interests rates have increased a little bit over the past few years. As a result, Ridgewood Savings Bank is now paying my kids 100-times more than TD, which is about as much as other banks pay on Certificates of Deposit (CDs). In hindsight, staying at TD for 18 years cost me thousands of dollars in interest alone, but going forward, I plan to be more strategic with my banking.

Income Idea 4: Dividends

Dividends are payments made by companies to shareholders. Think of them as thank you payments from a company to its shareholders for taking a risk and investing their money with the company. Companies usually calculate dividend payments based on how many shares an investor holds.

Dividends are like interest payments, but with a few crucial differences. Most importantly, dividends aren’t legally required. Thus, a company can increase, decrease, or dispense with them as they see fit. Banks, on the other hand, pay interest because technically you entered into a legally binding contract with them when you deposited (i.e. lent them) your money.

Any changes a company makes to its dividend structure impact its share price. This, in turn, impacts the overall value of the company. As a result, most companies typically choose a dividend structure and stick with it. This means that historically some companies pay higher dividends than others.

Many investors, especially older retirees, like to invest in companies that pay high dividends. These dividend payments provide a higher cash return on investment (ROI) than what bonds or CDs might produce. High-dividend-paying companies are also seen as “safer” investments since they make and/or sell products that are necessary for everyday living. Historically, this includes companies like GE, Ford, and Kroger. It also includes Under Armour, Target, and Intel.

Yet, GE offers a recent cautionary tale on the risk of dividend investing. While the company has a 100+ year history of paying rather high dividends, in the years since the 2008-09 Great Recession, it started to cut dividends due to fiscal troubles. As a result of those continued troubles, in 2018, GE cut its dividend from 12-cents a share to a mere 1-cent per share.

All of that said, I think it’s best to own stocks that will grow over time while also paying you a few bucks along the way. For example, if you drew 1% interest on personal savings of $30,000 and 2.5% on $500,000 worth of dividend-yielding stock, you’d have an extra $12,800 from just your money making you money. If that $500,000 was invested in a company like Coca-Cola, which pays rather high quarterly dividends like clockwork, you could quadruple that income amount to more than $50k. Although, I don’t recommend investing all your money in just one stock.

You cannot earn this kind of money from dividends if you’re spending all the money earmarked for investments on revolving 72-month auto loans and a 30-year mortgage. You need to consider what is enough income for your personal needs today, but also what is enough spending, which we’ll address in a bit.

Income Idea 4: Trading

These days, when someone says trading, people typically think of buying or selling shares on the stock market. However, trading is as old as civilization itself. Kyle MacDonald apparently traded one red paperclip and ended up with a house. Some people do this with goods on eBay and Amazon. Others buy up used golf clubs and re-grip them. For all the successes, there are also big failures, which can be found in an attic full of Beanie Babies.

Admittedly, some people are more adept than others at turning $5 into $10. They have a knack for spotting something undervalued, purchasing it, and selling it at a higher market value. The key to their success is building up knowledge about specific goods or services, understanding what the market will pay for it, and then seeking a source or supplier who doesn’t. By purchasing something lower than market price, and then re-selling at market value, they make a profit.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve made some positive trades in the stock market, but nothing too big. For example, Sears looks like it’s going totally out of business. However, its stock is still trading on the exchange. Seeing that Sears Canada was trading at less than a penny earlier in the month, I took a tiny gamble and bought 10,000 shares for $77. It jumped up 200%, so I sold 7,000 shares for $150 and left 3,000 shares behind, just in case they make a real comeback.

Earlier this year, I planned to buy Fannie Mae shares every other month because the share price seemed artificially low. U.S. housing and loans have done well since 2009, and the U.S. Government pledged to keep Fannie Mae afloat, even if it wasn’t viable. Having followed Fannie Mae adamantly since 2013 when it rose from the ashes of being a penny stock to being a Wall Street darling, I have some sense for its value. In fact, shortly after I made my initial purchase at $1.08, the share price jumped up significantly. Unsure as to why, I decided that doubling my money in just four weeks was a decent enough return, so I sold the shares.

I don’t want you to think that the stock market is the only place you can find something under-valued and re-sell it at a higher value. That’s just where I happen to feel the most comfortable doing my trading. Your subject matter expertise may lie elsewhere. Even so, I’d encourage you to think about a way to put that knowledge to use by trading.

Income Idea 5: Pensions

This should come as no surprise to Grumpus Maximus’s audience, but pensions can be a great way to increase your annual income now and in retirement. If you’re looking to switch jobs, you should consider positions with pensions. My wife and I both receive veterans’ pensions and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives. That money helps us meet our monthly spending and savings goals. Like most U.S. workers, we also expect to receive something from Social Security in retirement. In between, though, both of us are full-time federal employees and will earn pensions if we stay long enough to vest. I’m also a state employee as a result of teaching, and eligible for a state pension if I stay long enough to vest. My wife has an MBA, which means she may teach someday as well.

I call this Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Hacking. For more information, check out this piece I wrote called DB Pension Hacking.

The Point of More Income Streams

In the end, retirement falls on you. You must put some of your money away now so that future-you has enough to live happily when retirement starts. If you honestly don’t make enough from your primary job to save and invest for retirement, then you need to get a better-paying job, a second job, or a position that has pension savings built in.

My wife and I have done all those things. As a result, we both earn enough to invest 5% of each paycheck in our Thrift Savings Plans (like a 401(k)), which the federal government matches. At the community college where I teach, I invest $400 of each paycheck into a 403(b) (another type of tax advantage account). If I teach in the spring and fall, then that’s $6,400 per year invested. If I do this for 15-years and leave it alone until I’m 60 (like I’m supposed to) it should grow to about $300,000. That investment pot alone would allow me to safely withdraw $12,000 per year without running out of money.

According to J.L. Collins, if you take an annual draw of just 4% from your investments, you’ll never run out of money. There are caveats, so I suggest you read his series of articles. In any case, the 4% rule is great if you save $500,000 and only need to draw $20,000 a year because you have other income(s) and no debt. Alternatively, it’s worthless if you head into retirement with loans to pay off, an out of control monthly budget, and no other money coming in (like interest/dividends, a salary from work you enjoy, or Social Security).

My grandmother is 93-years-old. She retired at 55 and has lived off a combination of her Social Security, a small annuity, and a tiny pension. Her nest egg is well under $500,000, but she’s never touched it because her spending never outmatched her fixed retirement income. Which creates a perfect segue to discuss spending.

The Other Half of the Financial Equation: Careful Spending

Fucking up this part of your life will literally lead to bondage. You’ll be beholden to whoever gives you money, and it will all be because of idiotic things, like a fancy pair of pants you charged on a 26% Visa, a newer model car that was the lamest looking model ever made (Ford Explorer with a hood badge), or the gold iPhone.

My wife and I aren’t expert savers, and almost never use coupons. In fact, some months we are cash flow negative, and most months we don’t even track what we spend (which is not a method endorsed by Grumpus Maximus).

We can afford to act like that because we made some positive counter-cultural consumer choices which grant us freedom in our monthly budget.

They include:

• Driving older vehicles
• Living in a less desirable home in a desirable town
• No student loans – for us or our college-bound children

As stated, these are counter-cultural choices, so you’d be correct to think that you’ll be judged for doing what we did.

Vehicles

A car is just a garbage-can you drive around. This doesn’t apply to those who need a wheelchair lift, or those who drive for a living. But, if you’re like me, and your car’s main purpose is to move you back and forth from work; then having a 6-year loan on something like a 2019 Honda Accord is simply dumb. Leasing is ridiculous also; it’s the most expensive way to operate a vehicle.

The fact that so many people possess nice vehicles shows how little we think about our future. Think for just a minute here. No one is dreaming of eventually owning a leg-cramping 3-series BMW or Hyundai Elantra. However, people still waste their precious, post-tax capital on piddly vehicles, which incurs debt that eliminates freedom of choice in other important areas of their lives.

Until recently, I drove a 1997 Ford Explorer that I paid $3,440 for in 2010. I didn’t enjoy driving it, but I don’t get pleasure from driving anyway. The Explorer was just a tool to get me around. Unlike many car owners, I’m completely disassociated from my vehicle. My personal sense of self-worth isn’t tied up in it. If some doofus lets a grocery cart roll into the fender, it doesn’t bother me quite like it would if I was driving a Lotus or Land Rover.

Our One Car Loan

On the other hand, my wife drives a fully loaded 9-year-old Honda Odyssey, for which we took out our only loan. It was for $34k over 60 months at 1.9%, which came to very heavy $560/month. How did this happen?

The engine in our 12-year-old van died the day before she was leaving Louisiana to relocate to the home I’d established for us in New York. With the prospect of driving over 1,000 miles with 4 kids, she went to a dealership, not only because we intended to make the vehicle last, but also because used minivans were more expensive than usual in 2012 due to the “Cash for Clunkers” program which took many good cars off the road. Honestly, the $560 monthly payment was a burden, but the vehicle has lasted, despite racking up over 150,000 miles from multiple trips up and down the East Coast, and one to Chicago.

In January, it needed $3,000 worth of repairs, so we discussed replacing it. However, my wife’s plan is to keep it a few more years, then she can ditch the mom-mobile and get a used VW Jetta, or something of the like when we have 2 kids at home instead of 4.

That was our only monthly car payment, and thankfully, it’s done. Without the car payments, we have a lot of freedom. Since returning to work in 2011 I’ve taken several unpaid sabbaticals and a voluntary 8-week furlough. During the recent 5-week government shutdown, I had cash in the bank. So, when my ’97 Explorer was hit by a much-nicer 2017 Explorer, I was perfectly okay with taking $7,900 in cash from my savings (which I had accumulated from my second job) to buy a 2013 Honda Civic that will likely become my daughter’s in a year or so.

Not having auto loans is only part of it though. The other is that I can afford my house, even if I’m not working.

Home Loans

A huge drawback to living on Long Island is people are snobby. They judge a person’s worth by what they own. This happens other places as well, but based on my experience in The South, where there is more weight given to family name, church affiliation, and community involvement, Long Island is much worse. My case and point, according to some the 5-bedroom home we own is located in the ghetto area of Babylon Village. While Babylon Village doesn’t actually have a ghetto area, this label helps small-minded morons divide the haves from the have-nots.

Fact is, most people are idiots when it comes to buying a home. This cuts across generations. Many Boomers were fooled by the previously noted wisdom that “houses only go up in value”. This is why they kept selling-up and buying “as a much house as they could afford” … instead of paying off the $40,000 Cape Cod they bought in 1978.

Some Millennials are no different – wrapped up in what other people think and completely ignorant of the fact that owning a home is a luxury, not an asset. At best, a personal residence is a savings account with a negative interest rate. Yet, don’t take my word for it; take the word of a software engineer who encourages everyone to “math that shit up” when she is challenged on why homes are a terrible investment.

Because we bought a home in the cheaper part of town not far from the parkway, my commute is reduced by about 75 hours a year. Additionally, I save $2,000 per month on my mortgage payment and reduce my lifetime property tax expense (which is a wealth tax) by hundreds of thousands of dollars. On the downside, owning a cheaper house in the school district I wanted my children to attend creates social challenges for some people – mostly the kind who judge you based on the car you drive.

Those issues aside, our frugal housing decision provides my wife and I incredible flexibility. It’s allowed us to explore various education programs, careers, and to choose whether or not to work in New York City in order to make more money. We decided working in NYC isn’t worth it. More money couldn’t offset the additional 1,000-hours apart spent riding next to common-cold-carrying strangers on trains and subways.

Most importantly in all of this, our housing decision allowed us to save for our oldest to go to college. But, we won’t pay for all of it.

Student Loans

The GI Bill paid for me and my wife’s education. Now let’s talk about the kids.

Most colleges are a scam. They offer the same courses as each other, but with incredibly different price tags. My wife and I got our MBAs from St. Joseph’s College, which costs about a third of Fordham, even though they’re near equally ranked. Knowing this, I would never allow my child to go to Fordham for anything more than it would cost to go to St. Joseph’s. If I did, it would set a poor precedent. On top of that, while I love my children, I also love myself and my wife. I’d rather save for retirement than waste the capital I worked so hard to save, on a school name that provides no added value.

As college prices rise too high, we parents must wise up about inflated tuition costs. We should also involve our kids in the decision.

Kid Talk

From a young age, I’ve talked to my daughters about joining AmeriCorps before going to community college. By doing this, I will send a more university-ready student into the classroom as a result of her year of service. Also, since I’m teaching at the community college, it won’t cost anything for them to attend. If I can land a spot teaching at a 4-year school, that will be even better.

Additionally, many students who get high grades in community college are readily accepted into 1st tier and Ivy League schools. When they get their bachelor’s degree, the diploma doesn’t say “TRANSFER FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGE”; it just says WILLIAM & MARY or HARVARD. Where I teach, there are annual visits with recruiters from Princeton.

Lastly, and possibly most controversial, I’m not interested in funding the tuition of a mediocre student. For example, my kids know that if they are carrying a 2.9 GPA, it’d better be because they slacked off in Interpretive Dance class to spend extra time in the science lab. Or, because they won the NCAA tournament in their sport of choice … and created a chance to lock-up a pro contract. Having spent 2007-2016 earning degrees from four different schools, I know what a serious student’s GPA looks like. A 2.9 GPA is a joke. It’d be a joke played on me and my wife since we’ll be cutting the checks.

What Do We Owe Our Children?

A final concept everyone should also consider when it comes to our kids and college is this: We don’t owe them their college education. They’re adults and should expect to be treated as such. In fact, my kids have asked me, “what will you do if I refuse to join AmeriCorps?”. Nothing. Performing service for others is for them, not me, or even our country, to decide. On the other hand, if they accept the challenge, then serving in AmeriCorps will offer them skills, income, unique experiences, and a scholarship.

My kids have also asked, “what if I don’t go to the college where you work?“ Plain and simple, we might not be able to afford where they decide to go, and I won’t take out a loan … with the exception of a kid getting into Oxford, Harvard, Yale, etc.

The funds we’ve saved for my children’s education are limited, and if they want to go to a school of their choosing, they may have to help pay for it. They could do that through any number of methods, from qualifying for one of the U.S. military’s delayed entry programs to earning an ROTC scholarship, or signing up for the reserves and qualifying for the GI Bill. That is, of course, if they don’t manifest some special sporting skill like sinking 40-foot jump shots or driving a golf ball 300-yards off a tee. Alternatively, they can get a job at school. There’s no reason they can’t answer phones, sweep hallways, or bust-up frat house parties as a campus police officer.

Summing Up My Thoughts On Spending

Admittedly, I spiced-up the spending section with my overly-assertive opinions. That said, I also wanted to make you think about the major reoccurring expenses in your life. So, yes, I basically told you that car buying is stupid, owning a home is like a negative savings account, and most universities are overpriced replicas of equally good schools. Yet, beneath those inflammatory comments lies my thesis: overspending via monthly payments – not specific, sporadic purchases – is what overwhelms and traps people.

Our friend Grumpus built an entire website around the Golden Albatross inflection point. A Golden Albatross is a metaphor which describes the inner tension that some potential pensioners develop between the promise of that future pension, and a desire to quit their pensionable job. This tension forces those people to make a worth vs. worth it decision. What is the pension worth vs. is it worth staying for the pension?

Everyday Worth Vs. Worth It Decisions

However, the fact of the matter is people make worth vs. worth it financial decisions all the time — whether they know it or not. Therein lies the problem. More often than not, people either don’t understand or don’t believe, that there are worth vs. worth it tradeoffs.

For instance, let’s say that someone wants to purchase a Kia SUV with a $600 monthly payment. Not only that, but they have a long history of repeatedly purchasing a new car every 5 years. Sound like a lot of people you know? In fact, might that be you?

Now, how many people do you know that would compare those costs to the additional XX number of years that they’d need to work, in order to save an equivalent amount for retirement? Sadly, I bet not too many. However, that’s the exact way we need to look at these decisions.

Here’s another example. How many people do you know with jumbo mortgage payments for a great house on the “right side of town”? More than one? It doesn’t surprise me. That said, do you think any of them calculated how many more years they’d need to work, just to pay off that jumbo loan? Do you think they compared those years of work to the number of years it would take to pay off a more modest loan, for a more modest house, on the other side of town?

People need to realize that ignoring the worth vs. worth it aspect of their financial decisions traps them in situations they no longer control. What happens if you take that jumbo mortgage, but then you get fired? It becomes an anchor tied to your waist, dragging you down until you are bankrupt. What happens if your boss is a jerk? Do you gut it out and suffer the mental consequences just so you can make your house or car payments? Or do you jump, take a chance, and see what happens? Do you even have that flexibility?

What are the Alternatives?

One alternative is embracing the radical concept of F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retired Early), and locking in a middle-class lifestyle at middle age, not old age.

Is it really possible? For some. My wife and I are on a path to be there before the age of 50. By 60 we’ll have secured well over six figures in retirement income from multiple sources, some of which we are already receiving.

Of course, it will take us longer because of our lifestyle choices, such as leaving The South for Long Island and having four children instead of two. For us, all the added things we buy, like private pre-kindergarten, music lessons, and tutoring, as well as youth sports for all of the kids, are worth it. By IT, I’m not making a vague statement about life; I specifically mean the decade of added labor, and the drudgery of all the extra money we must earn to pay for these things.

Once you’ve counted the cost, you can then decide if it’s worth it – not vaguely, but literally. For me, paying for my children’s private music lessons and sports so they can better develop their bodies and minds, while also making friends and memories, is worth it. But, repeating the scenario of paying $34k over 60 payments, so I can steer something that looks a little nicer in traffic, before leaving it to sit out in the elements, while birds drop yesterday’s worms on it; that’s not worth it.

Christopher Pascale is an author, accountant, and professor from Long Island. His first book War Poems can be found at your local library or purchased at Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Books-A-Million. His next book is scheduled for release later this year.