We started our early retirement in Panama in the late summer of 2019. It was just me, my wife, Lisa, and our daughter, Faith, who was 9 at the time. We moved there and found a condo close to town in Boquete that we really liked. We even got to be part of a House Hunters International episode along the way! Things were moving along very well. The weather in the mountains of Boquete where our place resides is wonderful …
As we’re sitting here in Ohio wondering when (or if) we’ll be able to get back to Panama, we decided why not take a road trip? The iconic road trip is something that used to be the standard of almost every family vacation. With the pandemic raging stronger than ever, these types of trips have been making a big comeback this summer since not many folks are ready to jump on a plane right now. We’re in that same boat …
I’m constantly reading non-fiction books to continue learning – personal finance, biographies, business books, etc. But sometimes, I just need a couple of really good fiction books to read to free up my mind and get my imagination going. With the amount of traveling we had to do recently to get from Panama to the U.S. and then all the unknowns pushing up my anxiety, some good fiction books to read are just what the doctor ordered! I don’t have …
One of my favorite podcasts is the Earn & Invest podcast with Doc G (formerly the What’s Up Next? podcast). I’ve known Doc for a handful of years now. We met at FinCon years ago and I’ve been on his show on a couple of times since then. The first time I was on a panel to discuss the topic of whether passive income can really be passive. The second appearance was with my wife, Lisa, along with Amon and …
Earn & Invest Podcast Appearance – Panama Update Read More »
What a year! And I figured that if my mental health is still a mess right now, then I’m sure some of you might be in the same boat. Before you get too concerned about me though and start telling me that I need to talk to someone… I’m fine. I’m just a lot more off-balance than usual. I feel like I’m exhausted all the time and just plain anxious. Anxiety is something new to me. I’m used to being …
Around most of the world, there is obviously some trepidation with traveling because of the pandemic. Then you toss in the idea of traveling internationally and the uncertainty is even more intense. As most of you know, we’ve been living in Panama since August of 2019. When this pandemic initially came around, we decided to stay put living abroad. That went well for a while, but it got tougher and tougher being stuck in lockdown without family nearby, particularly for …
Here’s What Traveling Internationally Looks Like Now Read More »
Everything about this plan is a bad idea. We’re just asking for trouble in every way possible. But… we’re doing it anyway! If you read my post “Our Planned Trip Back to the U.S. from Panama…” from a few weeks ago, you might remember that we were heading back to the U.S. in the second week of July. Well, not too surprisingly, that whole agenda fell apart quickly. The President of Panama, Nito Cortizo, decided to extend the suspension of …
Back in early January, I had an opportunity to be interviewed by the wonderful Risa Morimoto from Modern Aging. She wanted to get my take on our time here in Panama. What do we like and dislike? Why would someone want to retire in Panama? I met Risa earlier this year during the shooting of our House Hunters International episode. She was the director and she’s just a great person all around. Risa’s got the personality and sense of humor …
Reasons to Retire in Panama – My Interview on YouTube Read More »
I had a thought recently that made me wonder how much free money for retirement was given to me during my last job. My former employer was always generous in taking care of employees through the 401(k) plan offered. So just how much of our net worth could be attributed to that facet of saving? I dug up my old 401(k) statements and expected the need to spend a lot of time breaking things down and then adding up all …
How I Got Over $181,000 of Free Money for Retirement Read More »
I just paid the $335 annual premium again for the term life insurance policy we have in place on Lisa… same as I do every June. Then every January we pay the $673 annual premium on the term life insurance policy on my head. We’ve paid $1,008 out of our pockets every year since 2010. That’s over $10,000 spent on something we haven’t gotten anything out of at all. Our 20-year policies expire in the year 2030 so that’s another …
Life Insurance in Early Retirement… Cancel or Keep It? Read More »
