April 2019 - Route to Retire

We Thought We Could Just Pack Up and Go…

When we first sought out our new adventure, we thought we could basically just pack up and go. I mean, you just sell everything and move to Panama, right? Ha! Wishful thinking! There’s a tremendous amount of planning involved to make this a smooth transition. I’ve talked about some of the minutiae we’ve encountered in our planning, but now it’s time for more scoop. And considering we’re about to embark on a huge adventure, I thought it would make sense […]

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Guest Appearance on the What’s Up Next Podcast

4 Comments / Podcasts and Other Appearances / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 29, 2019

The “What’s Up Next?” podcast is a little newer to the scene. In fact, the first episode just came out in November of 2018. However, I’ve known Doc G from DiverseFI for a while and we finally had that opportunity at FinCon in Dallas last year. It’s great to meet other bloggers in real life and Doc is no exception. He’s a great guy and we had some good conversation… and a few beers, of course! Anyway, a few months

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Estimated Self-Employment Tax Used to Scare Me!

8 Comments / Self-Employment, Taxes and Financial Planning / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 23, 2019

I’m just going to say it – I have three very small businesses that I’ve been running for years and I’ve never paid estimated self-employment tax payments. Ouch, for shame, for shame! That’s right, I’m a complete failure in that avenue. And that could have cost me, too. If you owe $1,000 or more come tax day in April, you might be hit with a penalty by the IRS. In essence, it’s an interest penalty on the difference of what

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Guest Appearance on the Marriage, Kids and Money Podcast

Leave a Comment / Podcasts and Other Appearances / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 16, 2019

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

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Using Google Voice to Stay in Touch While Living Abroad

105 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Panama, Travel and Vacation / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 16, 2019

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

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An Interview with My Daughter about Our Crazy Plans

18 Comments / Guest Posts, Kids, Travel and Vacation / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 9, 2019

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

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

3 Comments / Guest Posts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 4, 2019

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

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Early Retirement = Healthier Lifestyle

15 Comments / Health and Fitness, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / Jim @ Route To Retire / April 2, 2019

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

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