The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022

Last year, I wrote a wrap-up post with the 10 most popular posts of the year. It was an idea I borrowed from my friend Fritz over at The Retirement Manifesto (with his permission, of course).

I liked that idea so much that I’m running with it again this year. And guess what – Fritz did it again as well and beat me to the punch! If you’re interested (and you should be!), you can check out his post appropriately titled, Top 10 Posts of 2022.

But enough about Fritz – you came here today to read about Route to Retire and all the cool articles written over here, right?

It’s always interesting to look back on what the popular posts were since they’re generally not all from the current year. This time around, 7 of my most viewed posts were from 2022, 1 from 2021, and believe it or not, 2 from 2019!

So let’s get started and check out Route to Retire’s 10 most popular posts of 2022…

#10 – The Fascinating Reason We’re Traveling Over 500 Miles To Buy All Our Furniture

The Fascinating Reason We’re Traveling Over 500 Miles To Buy All Our Furniture

When we decided we would be moving back from Panama this year, we knew we’d be in a tough spot. We had sold almost everything we had owned before making our move out of the country.

In Panama, that worked out extremely well since almost all rentals come fully furnished (and sometimes even in buying). The problem would be that we would be starting from scratch when we moved back to the States.

That’s when we got lucky and had an offer that was too good to refuse – you gotta check this one out!

#9 – 3 Attainable Characteristics That Drastically Improved My Quality of Life

3 Attainable Characteristics That Drastically Improved My Quality of Life

Coming in at #9 is a post about a few characteristics that I think have made life better than I ever thought possible. I also think these are qualities that can be learned if they’re not inherent to you. I know this to be true because 2 of them were ones that I made possible by changing my own outlook on life.

I feel that these 3 characteristics have made me a better person.

#8 – Finding My Place Again in the U.S. – 3 Things I’m Worried About

Finding My Place Again in the U.S. – 3 Things I’m Worried About

Moving back to the U.S. from Panama has proven to be very difficult for me. I knew it would be an adjustment, but moving back to the States has actually been tougher on me than moving to Panama! Kind of weird, right?

I haven’t figured this out yet. When we first came back, I was busy with a massive 31-day road trip, getting our furniture in North Carolina, moving into our new place, stepping out of my comfort zone for an awesome fishing trip in Canada, and going on another fun cruise. In other words, it’s been busy as all get out… in a good way.

But now that that’s done, it’s time to settle into reality… and that’s been hard for me. I need to figure “me” out. And I’m sure I will but it’s going to take some time.

Expect more posts about this in 2023 as I continue to work through this.

#7 – Stop Counting Pennies and Focus on the Dollars

Stop Counting Pennies and Focus on the Dollars

I got myself in about $30k of credit card debt back in college (more than $53k in today’s dollars). Once I recognized how bad it was, it took me years to dig my way out.

Since then, I’ve been very careful about my spending… maybe too much. I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to pinch pennies.

It’s sometimes a struggle to accept though that the pennies aren’t what’s going to make or break it for us. The bigger expenses (and income) are what really matter. Those are what can make the biggest difference in our financial picture.

#6 – Boquete, Panama vs Ajijic, Mexico… Which Is the Better Place To Live?

Boquete, Panama vs Ajijic, Mexico… Which Is the Better Place To Live?

When we left our home in Boquete, Panama after 3½ years to head back to the U.S., we decided to take our time on the way and spend a little time in Mexico first.

One of the places we went to was a town called Ajijic, which is about about 45 minutes south of Guadalajara. Like Boquete, Ajijic is another place that seems to draw a lot of ex-pats so this was interesting to me. Additionally, several ex-pats in Panama seemed to rave about this place with a lot of comparisons to Boquete, so that made it even more intriguing.

Although we only spent 8 nights in Ajijic, it was fun to draw some comparisons between the two places. Apparently, others were curious about this as well considering it made the list of most popular posts this year!

#5 – Opening the Books to Our Investment Portfolio

Opening the Books to Our Investment Portfolio

This post just came out a couple of weeks ago and it’s already one of the year’s most popular posts. There’s a good chance that it could have moved up in the rankings by the time this post comes out!

I think the title says it all – I break down our investment portfolio with actual dollar amounts, our investments, and more.

#4 – Using Google Voice to Stay in Touch While Living Abroad

Using Google Voice to Stay in Touch While Living Abroad

This article came out in 2019 and continues to rank as one of the most popular posts on Route to Retire. It makes sense since figuring out how to communicate with friends and family back home while out of the country is something that would be high on almost any ex-pat’s list.

When I figured out how to utilize Google Voice in a way that made this a cost-free method to make it happen, I wanted to share. This post provides the low-down on the magic!

#3 – The 2 Big Reasons We’re Moving Back From Panama… and What’s Next!

A fair number of loyal readers have followed along for our Panama adventures. So it’s no surprise that knowing why we decided to move back became one of the year’s popular posts.

Leaving Panama was a tough decision but this post explains some of why we came back. I loved living in Boquete immensely and hope that one day we’ll be able to spend time or live there again.

#2 – 10 Reasons Not to Live in Panama

10 Reasons Not to Live in Panama

A lot of traffic for this post came from search engine searches. You can find a million posts telling you why you do want to live in Panama, but how many of them tell you why you don’t want to live there? It’s good that people don’t just want to hear that it’s all rainbows and unicorns – they want to know the downsides as well.

I wrote two posts on this that tied together in 2019: 10 Reasons Not to Live in Panama as well as a counter post (that actually came out first): The 7 Reasons I Love Living in Panama as an Expat.

I loved my time in Panama – it’s such as special place. There will always be downsides to any place in the world, but finding reasons that mattered to me in Boquete was a tough one for this post!

#1 – How and Why To Open a Custodial Roth IRA at Vanguard

How and Why To Open a Custodial Roth IRA at Vanguard

Ladies and gentlemen… the moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived. #1 in the rankings of the most popular posts on Route to Retire for 2022 is… How and Why To Open a Custodial Roth IRA at Vanguard.

I opened a custodial Roth IRA for my daughter last year. At the time, she was only 10 years old. However, the importance of a Roth IRA can’t be overstated.

So because there was an opportunity for her to model for this blog at a fair wage, this also became a chance to make it worthwhile and open a Roth IRA for her. Finding legitimate income for a 10-year-old might be a somewhat unique circumstance. But once a child becomes old enough to start working, opening a custodial Roth IRA should definitely be considered regardless.

This article walks you step-by-step through how to open a custodial Roth IRA for your child at Vanguard.


Those are 2022’s most popular posts – I hope you enjoyed them!

I also hope that this year was a good year for you. If not, it’s time to start fresh in 2023!

Cheers and here’s to a wonderful New Year! See you in 2023!!

Plan well, take action, and live your best life!

Thanks for reading!!

— Jim

You know you wanna share this!!

4 thoughts on “The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022”

  1. Awesome post Jim, I’ve read most of these already, though I hadn’t gotten to #2 yet, so thanks for sharing it. I hope you and the girls had a great Christmas! We were supposed to be heading south to Florida today, but Southwest cancelled our flight, as with so many 100’s of others! Guess we are sticking around Tennessee this week! Happy New Year!

    1. Christmas was good here – hope yours was as well! Sorry to hear about your canceled flight – I’ve heard what a mess things have been with Southwest. That stinks, but at least it’s Tennessee, which is a pretty cool place to be stuck! Best of luck getting to Florida and Happy New Year!

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