Jim @ Route To Retire

Stacking Benjamins Show Appearance – Retiring Abroad

Stacking Benjamins Show Appearance – Retiring Abroad

4 Comments / Podcasts and Other Appearances, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / /

I was very excited to be asked to appear on a special episode of the Stacking Benjamins Show recently. There aren’t many podcasts that I still listen to anymore, but I love listening to Joe, Paula, and Len on this show. It just seems like they’re having a lot of fun but with some good info presented along the way. In case you’re wondering, the other podcasts I still regularly listen to are: Afford Anything with Paula Pant ChooseFI with […]

Stacking Benjamins Show Appearance – Retiring Abroad Read More »

Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled

Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled

14 Comments / Kids, Debt, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / /

Relying on schools to educate your kids about personal finance is generally not going to be a smart move… most schools don’t even have a curriculum to teach them the basics. When it comes to teaching kids about money, the onus falls on you. That’s good news because you have an opportunity to ensure that your children are learning the right information. Just as many parents haven’t been educated about personal finance, many teachers themselves haven’t been either. If you

Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled Read More »

Traveling to Panama? The Ultimate Guide in Going from the U.S. to Boquete

Traveling to Panama? The Ultimate Guide in Going from the U.S. to Boquete

17 Comments / Panama, Travel and Vacation / /

I’m very excited to say that my in-laws have officially booked flights to visit us next month. But traveling to Panama isn’t for the faint of heart. If you’re not an avid traveler, you’re probably going to run into some stumbling blocks along the way. Heck, even if you are a regular traveler, you’ll probably run into your share of quirky issues. The difference is that it might be a little easier for the regular traveler to know what to

Traveling to Panama? The Ultimate Guide in Going from the U.S. to Boquete Read More »

We Have a Lot of Cash in Hand Now… Too Much!

We Have a Lot of Cash in Hand Now… Too Much!

37 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Real Estate, Saving, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

Having cash in hand is a good thing. Whether it’s for an emergency fund or money you’re saving up for something short-term like a car, having money at your disposal is a good thing. But there’s a limit to that goodness and having too much cash in hand can absolutely be a problem. When you have money sitting in the bank, it’s earning a little bit of interest (a real little bit in this day and age!). However, that interest

We Have a Lot of Cash in Hand Now… Too Much! Read More »

Boquete, Panama in Photos - Beautiful!

Boquete, Panama in Photos – Beautiful!

10 Comments / Panama, Life in Early Retirement, Travel and Vacation / /

As I was looking at some of the pictures we’ve taken during our time so far in Panama, I realized that I haven’t shared enough of them with you. So today, I’m happy to present Boquete, Panama in photos for your enjoyment! We’ve been lucky enough to be living in Boquete since 2019 and get to experience this beautiful place. But then, we also have the privilege of reliving it at night because all our photos show up as a

Boquete, Panama in Photos – Beautiful! Read More »

Being Rich – What Would Change in Life?

Being Rich – What Would Change in Life?

26 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving, Spending / /

Ah, the allure of tons of money… who hasn’t had the dream of being rich?! The things you could afford, the places you could go, the luxurious good times you could have. It’s fun to imagine all the cool things you could do with boatloads of money. Wait a minute, Jim – aren’t you already rich? You retired a couple of years ago at 43 for Pete’s sake! We’re definitely in a position that I’m more than elated for –

Being Rich – What Would Change in Life? Read More »

How We’re Streaming Movies, TV, and Music for Free

How We’re Streaming Movies, TV, and Music for Free

4 Comments / Spending, Product and Service Reviews / /

The past decade has substantially transformed how we watch movies and TV and listen to music. Streaming movies, TV, and music is a great avenue of entertainment and the technology continues to mature and become better and better. All this cord-cutting has made the cable companies cringe, but I’m happy to see it. They’ve been gouging customers for years now as what I’d say are essentially monopolies across the U.S. Right now, they can still crush you on Internet prices,

How We’re Streaming Movies, TV, and Music for Free Read More »

Traveling to Ohio in February… Um, Why?!

Traveling to Ohio in February… Um, Why?!

22 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement / /

I started writing this post just one day before we started traveling to Ohio from Panama. By the time you read this, we’ll be in the dead of winter in Northeast Ohio. We’ve left the 75°F daily temps of Boquete to head toward the Akron/Cleveland area where the high has been hovering in the teens lately. It’s snowing off and on as well, but that’s par for the course in February in Ohio. We might be the worst snowbirds ever

Traveling to Ohio in February… Um, Why?! Read More »

Owning Rental Properties Is Smart, but I’m Out, Jack!

Owning Rental Properties Is Smart, but I’m Out, Jack!

38 Comments / Real Estate, Debt, Investments, Saving, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

That’s right, folks – after owning rental properties since 2003, I’m now completely out of the game! In 2018, I sold the house I had bought as an investment property in 2003. And just a couple of weeks ago, we closed on selling the duplex we had purchased in 2015. Here’s the weird part – if you’ve been following my blog over the years, you know that I’m a strong advocate of owning real estate rentals. Each property can provide

Owning Rental Properties Is Smart, but I’m Out, Jack! Read More »

We Decided Not To Move Back Home to the U.S. Yet!

We Decided Not To Move Back Home to the U.S. Yet!

29 Comments / Panama, Life in Early Retirement, Travel and Vacation / /

I’m excited to announce that Lisa and I recently made the decision not to move back home to the U.S. just yet. We’ve been taking this year by year since we moved here to Boquete, Panama in the summer of 2019. Over the past couple of months though, it looked like our time here was going to be ending in the fall. But I’m happy to tell you that we finally came up with a new plan. We’ll have the

We Decided Not To Move Back Home to the U.S. Yet! Read More »