Route to Retire ...the path to financial independence

Guest Appearance on the Marriage, Kids and Money Podcast

I like Andy Hill from the Marriage, Kids and Money site a lot. He’s a genuinely nice guy and I love that he focuses on finances as a family. I would guess that the majority of the folks we hear from in the personal finance community don’t have kids. That doesn’t necessarily represent everyone tuning in, but the voices tend to be less. Enter Andy Hill. Not only does he focus on improving family finances, but he loves to show that it definitely is possible to reach financial independence with kids. That’s an area I agree with wholeheartedly (obviously), but it’s also something I want others to know. It’s not a matter of not being able to chase financial independence

Using Google Voice to Stay in Touch While Living Abroad

Ever heard of Google Voice? If not, know that this could be one of the best ways of staying in touch with family and friends while you’re living abroad. One of the small concerns we had was how to keep communication simple with everyone while we’re living in Panama. When we get there, we’re going to get Panamanian cell service for our phones. The problem is that gives us a Panamanian phone number. So if we call anyone in the U.S. or they call us, it’s an international call. That means some potential extra money for each phone call… and we know I don’t like that! Plus, we have to ensure that everyone has our new number, which can also

An Interview with My Daughter about Our Crazy Plans

We all know that everyone loves to hear from my daughter on here more than me. So I thought that this time I’d bring her back as an interviewee. Most of you think that our plans to move out of the country later this year are pretty bold but cool (albeit, a little crazy). But the problem is that you’re only getting my perspective on our upcoming plans. And I know a lot of you want to know what the rest of the family is thinking. So today, I’m presenting an interview I did with my daughter, Faith, to talk about our July plans as well as our upcoming move to Panama in August. Hopefully, I can get Mrs. R2R

It Takes More than Money – My Interview on Retire By 40

A lot of you already know that Joe from Retire By 40 was my inspiration for heading down the path to FIRE. He gave me the kick in the pants I needed to realize that early retirement was possible. I took a week off of work when my daughter was born in 2010. When I had to go back to work after that and couldn’t be with her throughout the days after, it crushed me. I struggled, but I thought that was just the way it goes. But then, a couple of years later, I stumbled across the Retire By 40 blog and was blown away. There were a lot of similarities between our lives and that gave me pause.

Early Retirement = Healthier Lifestyle

Living a healthier lifestyle is something we all want. We know we’ll feel better. We know we’ll likely live longer. Heck, we’ll probably even look better! And it’s not like reaching a healthier lifestyle is some complex formula that we just can’t understand. It’s a simple process and we’re all familiar with the gist of what needs to be done: Eat foods that are better for you Get off your butt and exercise more Drink less beer (it hurts just to say it!) or other alcohol Minimize high stress Get enough sleep each night Unfortunately, for most of us, it just doesn’t happen. Why not? What’s keeping us from following these simple guidelines? It’s different for all of us, but I

My Credit Score Dropped – Should I Worry?

Should I be concerned that my credit score dropped recently? I mean, after all, your credit score helps financial institutions define your reliability in the world of finance. It’s like your report card to see how you’re doing. A great score likely means you’ll get better rates when applying for a loan. A bad credit score usually equates to a higher rate – if you’re able to get approved at all. I’ve always maintained a good score, even when I was in deep consumer debt back in the college years. Even though I had a lot of credit card debt, I was still paying at least the minimum every month. Back when balance transfers were big with the credit card

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