March 2022 - Route to Retire

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

10 Comments / Panama, Geoarbitrage, Kids, Life in Early Retirement, Self-Employment, Travel and Vacation / Jim @ Route To Retire / March 29, 2022

I’ve been regularly putting my entire life out there publicly on this blog since 2015. So when someone is surprised to find out we’re moving back to the U.S. from Panama, I’m sometimes confused for a second… doesn’t everyone follow our journey on this site every week? Of course not! Though you should be! 😉 When friends ask us about why we’re moving back, I usually fill them in. And when blog-reading friends ask us why we’re moving back, I […]

The 2 Big Reasons We’re Moving Back From Panama… and What’s Next! Read More »

For a Better Life, Turn Your “I Can’t” Into an “I Can”

8 Comments / Motivation, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts / Jim @ Route To Retire / March 22, 2022

It’s a little surreal for me to reflect on my life and see how far we’ve come. By far, I feel we now have a better life than I could have ever imagined. We’re financially independent and no longer report to “the man.” We’ve taken advantage of our early retirement freedom to spend more time being a part of our daughter’s life as she grows up, We’ve all stepped out of our comfort zone and have been living in Panama

For a Better Life, Turn Your “I Can’t” Into an “I Can” Read More »

3 Popular Panama Beach Resorts – Las Olas, Las Lajas, and Show Pony

4 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / Jim @ Route To Retire / March 15, 2022

Beaches are prevalent throughout the country of Panama. Frommer’s notes that there are over 1,000 on the Pacific side and more than 500 on the Caribbean side. That’s a lot of beaches in general, but a heckuva lot considering that the entire country of Panama is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of South Carolina! And with that many beaches comes a lot of Panama beach resorts. In the province of Chiriquí where we live (that’s where the cities of

Should I Get a Job Now as a Hedge for Tomorrow?

26 Comments / Saving, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Self-Employment / Jim @ Route To Retire / March 8, 2022

Get a job???? Isn’t this a site focusing on financial independence and the option to retire early? Easy, tiger – no need to come out fighting right off the rip. Don’t get out your pitchforks to tell me that we didn’t retire with enough money. This is more of a hypothetical than anything. I’m confident that we have enough money to last us the rest of our lives. Our net worth has actually grown dramatically since I retired at the

Should I Get a Job Now as a Hedge for Tomorrow? Read More »

Is This Down Stock Market Problematic as an Early Retiree?

25 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Spending, Taxes and Financial Planning / Jim @ Route To Retire / March 1, 2022

A down stock market? Is that true? Yeah, unless you haven’t been paying attention, the market’s been on a not-so-fun ride lately in the direction that most folks tend to fear. Most of last week was a stressful week for investors. By the end of the day Wednesday, 02/23/2022, all gains in the S&P 500 since 06/21/2021 had been completely erased. Thursday and Friday produced a pretty big uptick but not enough to compensate for the downward spiral the beginning

Is This Down Stock Market Problematic as an Early Retiree? Read More »