Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) Archives

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

27 Comments / General Thoughts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / September 13, 2022 September 13, 2022

We moved to Boquete, Panama back in 2019, just months after I had retired from work at the end of 2018. We had sold everything we owned and moved to a country that we had only visited one other time – a country where we knew no one and almost everyone speaks Spanish. You would think that this whirlwind would be one of the biggest hurdles in life to adjust to and figure out. Funny enough though, finding my place …

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Taking Stock – A Breath of Fresh Air on the Path to Financial Independence

4 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / By Jim @ Route To Retire / August 26, 2022 August 26, 2022

Several months ago, Jordan Grumet asked me if I’d like to read an advance copy of his new book, Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life. I met Jordan at the personal finance conference FinCon a number of years ago. He was such a likable guy, interesting to talk to, and very insightful. That could also be why he’s run a successful podcast for years now. It’s called the Earn & …

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Why Not One More? Transform Your Life!

12 Comments / Motivation, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Investments / By Jim @ Route To Retire / August 23, 2022 August 21, 2022

I realized something while working out recently – something important to understand. There’s one thing that keeps many of us from achieving extraordinary things in life. It’s the difference between average and exceptional – just two simple words… One more. Imagine lifting a set of dumbbells and you plan to do 12 in your set. When you get to 12, what’s stopping you from doing one more? It might not sound like much, but if you consistently raise the reps …

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ACA Subsidies Mean We Only Pay $227.34/Mo for Our Family of 3

22 Comments / Health and Fitness, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Insurance, Life in Early Retirement / By Jim @ Route To Retire / August 16, 2022 August 14, 2022

I talked last year about how we planned to keep our health insurance costs low once we moved back to the U.S. from Panama. Well, that time is now and I wanted to share how ACA subsidies have enabled us to keep our costs even lower than anticipated. One of the toughest areas to plan for in early retirement is health insurance. Finding quality health care coverage at an affordable price to tide you over until Medicare eligibility at 65 …

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Lisa’s Now a Secret Shopper… Is This Legit or Even Worthwhile?

14 Comments / Self-Employment, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Saving / By Jim @ Route To Retire / May 31, 2022 May 28, 2022

Have you ever heard of those mythical jobs where you’re hired to go into a store or restaurant as a customer and then report back and get paid? Generally, that person is known as a secret shopper or a mystery shopper. Yeah, well, here’s a little treat – they’re real. I had forwarded over a link to Lisa for a company called Market Force Information that acts as a liaison for this exact purpose. Sure enough, after Lisa dug into …

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We’re on a Bus to Costa Rica Right Now! Here’s Why…

14 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / April 19, 2022 April 17, 2022

You read that right… I’m typing this entire blog post while on a bus to Costa Rica. We took a taxi from our home in Boquete, Panama to David (also in Panama). Then we got on a Tracopa bus around 9 am that’s taking us all the way to San José, Costa Rica. By the time it’s done, we’ll have been on this bus to Costa Rica for probably 8-9 hours. You might think of this as a grueling day, …

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The Rent vs Buy Dilemma… Does It Matter?

28 Comments / Real Estate, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Life in Early Retirement, Saving / By Jim @ Route To Retire / April 5, 2022 April 5, 2022

One of the most debated topics in the personal finance space revolves around the question of rent vs buy. On one side of the fence, you have the folks marching to the beat of, “You’re throwing money away when you rent… when you buy, you have something to show for it down the line.” And on the other side of the fence are those that say, “Yeah, but renting can cost a lot less money with excess to be invested… …

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

8 Comments / Motivation, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts / By Jim @ Route To Retire / March 22, 2022 March 19, 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 …

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

26 Comments / Saving, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Self-Employment / By Jim @ Route To Retire / March 8, 2022 March 6, 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 …

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Is This Down Stock Market Problematic as an Early Retiree?

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

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